COURTSHIP AMONG BIRDS 113 



sowary can emit a roar which would do credit to a 

 lion. 



In the males of all healthy animals the periodic 

 stimulus to reproduction finds expression in more or 

 less striking eccentricity of conduct. Sometimes, as the 

 foregoing instances have shown, this has been exaggerated 

 by the development of long, resplendent plumes : some- 

 times by brilliant coloration, displayed either by the 

 plumage or by bare areas of skin, or by both, while in not 

 a few cases attitudes, to our eyes grotesque and made 

 still more so by the aid of inflatable pouches, are t}\e 

 outward and visible sign of the raging fires within. For 

 the completion of this chapter yet other instances of this 

 kind must be cited, instances which reveal a further 

 elaboration of some of the more striking of these tricks 

 of posturing ; or which concern the growth of the aggressive 

 instincts, which are proclaimed by the development of 

 armature often of a very formidable character. As 

 the sequel shows, however, there are no hard and fast 

 dividing lines between these several modes of expression. 



That remarkable bird, the Ruff {Machetes pugnax), 

 now, alas ! no longer to be met with in our fens, exhibits 

 a curiously composite character in the phases of its love 

 display. 



Preparations for this are begun in the early spring by 

 the assumption of what is called a " nuptial dress," 

 which is worn only by the male, and which contrasts in 

 a very conspicuous manner with the plumage worn 

 during the rest of the year. The most striking features 

 of this dress are the great, erectile, Elizabethan ruff which 

 encircles the neck immediately behind the head, and 

 the long, tongue-shaped " ears " which surmount the 

 head itself. These exhibit a most remarkable diversity 



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