193 
KUL EE: 
(FEMALE CALLED REEVE.) 
Macuetes puenax, Selby. 
The Ruff, the female of which is smaller than 
the male, formerly bred in great numbers in the 
fenny districts along the eastern coast of England, 
where they were caught and fatted for the 
table with farinaceous substances, which they 
soon relished; but owing to the draining of the 
marshes and the increase of population, they are 
now of rare occurrence in those parts, many of 
them sojourning with us merely for a short 
time during spring and autumn. On the east 
coast of Scotland they make their appearance as 
early as the middle of September, and depart in 
a fortnight, so that only young birds and females 
are seen there. The species is extensively distri- 
buted on the Continent, where it breeds in the 
marshes. The female, which forms a slight nest 
onthe ground, and lays greenish grey eggs, spotted 
with reddish and blackish brown marks, rears her 
young without the aid of the male. 
