Exhibit in Chicago Natural History Museum 



Ruff 



The ruff and his mate, the reeve, are shorebirds, relatives of sandpipers, of Europe 

 and Asia. The male is remarkable for the ruff of elongated feathers which give him his 

 name and which he dons only for the breeding season to use in his courtship display. 

 The variation of the color and markings in the ruff is e.xtreine; the omainental 

 feathers may be black, chestnut, white, or barred. 



The tourneys of the ruff are classical examples of communal coiu'tship display; but 

 many other species over the world ha\-e similar cominunit\' dances, notably the black- 

 cock of northern Europe, the prairie chicken and the sage grouse of North America, the 

 mannikin and the cock-of-the-rock of the American tropics, and some birds of paradise 

 in New Guinea. Probably the display of the ruff is so widely known because its dances 

 are held in open grass country where the birds can be watched. The species is common 

 in Holland and thus its performances have long been accessible to students of birds. 



The scene in the exhibit is in Holland, where the flat green fields, waterways, graz- 

 ing cattle, and windmills shown in its panoramic background are cominon features of 

 the landscape. 



In the spring the males gather in some place that has been used for generations as a 

 dancing ground. Each ruff has its own little bit of ground where its continual running 

 about wears off the grass, so that the grassy meadow is dotted with regularlv placed, 



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