114 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



which then surely dies from being unable to 

 feed.' AVith waders, the males of the common 

 water-hen (Gallinula chloropus) ' when pairing, 

 fight violently for the females; they stand 

 nearly upright in the water and strike with their 

 feet.' Two were seen to be thus engaged for 

 half-an-hour, until one got hold of the head of 

 the other, which would have been killed, had 

 not the observer interfered ; the female all the 

 time looking on as a quiet spectator." An allied 

 bii-d (GaUicrex cristatus) is so "pugnacious during 

 the breeding season that they are kept by the 

 natives of Eastern Bengal for the sake of fighting." 



We in England can, or rather could, furnish 

 a splendid illustration of these battles, in the 

 "ruff" of oar Eenlands. But, partly on account 

 of the drainage of the ground which furnished 

 it shelter and partly by reason of " its whole- 

 sale capture in spring, for the tables of the rich, 

 when 'game' is out of season,'' it must now 

 be regarded as extinct. 



This bird is so called, writes Prof. Newton, 

 " from the very beautiful and remarkable frill of 

 elongated feathers that, just before the breeding- 

 season, grow thickly round the neck of the male, 

 who is considerably larger than the female 

 known as the reeve. In many respects this 

 species ... is one of the most singular in 

 existence. . . . The cock-bird, when out of his 

 nuptial attire, or, to use the fen-man's expression, 

 when he has not his 'show on,' and the hen at 

 all seasons offer no very remarkable deviation 

 from ordinary sand - pipers. . . . But when 

 spring comes all is changed. In a surprisingly 



