224 RUFF. 



of the typical Grallatores, we see one which is 

 polygamous, and which, during the commencement 

 of the love season, frequents a particular elevated 

 spot, displaying his plumage to the other sex, and 

 challenging and combating with all rivals that in- 

 trude on his station. These habits are all found 

 among the Rasores almost alone, and it is among 

 them, also, that we most generally see the largely 

 developed wattles, and the exuberance of plumage 

 about the head or : neck represented here by the 

 warty papillae, and large ruffs in the males, all 

 which is still more marked by the constant varia- 

 tion which occurs in the colouring and marking of 

 the latter. The best account of the habits and 

 manner of taking the Ruff, during the breeding 

 season, will be found in Colonel Montague's Dic- 

 tionary, from which we give some abridgment, it 

 being impossible to pass over the singular habits of 

 a bird belonging to this family, that so peculiarly 

 possesses them, even though they should have been 

 often detailed already. 



u In the spring the Ruffs hill, as it is termed, 

 that is, they assemble upon a rising spot of ground 

 contiguous to where the species prepare to deposit 

 their eggs : there they take their stand at a small 



OO ' J 



distance from each other, and contend for the fe- 

 males. This hill, or place of resort for love and 

 battle, is sought for by the fowler, who from habit 

 discovers it by the birds having trodden the turf 

 somewhat bare, though not in a circle, as usually 

 described. 



