THE RUFF 491 



a " hill " of from eight or ten to twenty ruffs, no two of which are 

 alike. Naumann, in his usual painstaking style, describes four main 

 classes of colouring, and proceeds to describe minutely no fewer than 

 nineteen different types of plumage under these heads. Sharpe, 

 in the Catalogue of Birds, vol. xxiv. p. 504, distinguishes fifteen of 

 the more important types. Without going into these details, we 

 may state that the colouring is exactly reproduced in the same bird 

 year after year. This was observed long ago by Montagu, and is 

 proved by a series of coloured figures by Wolf of birds kept in 

 confinement at the Zoological Gardens. The neck-shield is generally 

 white, black, orange-buff, or barred with varying combinations of the 

 above colours, while the occipital tufts in some cases are similar in 

 colour to the shield, and in others contrast strongly with it. 



Not only in appearance, but also in habits, does the ruff differ 

 from the rest of the Waders. In some respects there is a strong 

 resemblance between the play of the black grouse and the present 

 species. The males of both are accustomed to meet on certain well- 

 known spots in the small hours, there to display before the hens, and 

 also to fight at intervals among themselves. We owe a considerable 

 debt to Mr. E. Selous, who has done much to clear up the mystery 

 of these meetings by his lonely and uncomfortable vigils in an 

 observation-pit not far from a "hill" in Holland. The full account 

 will be found in the Zoologist, 1906, pp. 285-294, 419-428, and 1907, 

 pp. 60-65, 161-182, and 367-381. It is too long for any but the 

 briefest resume" of the general results, but should be read carefully 

 by all who are interested in the subject, and compared with Seebohm's 

 explanation of what these actions ought to mean according to his 

 preconceived ideas on the subject. 1 



Mr. Selous' observations extended from April 14th to May 3rd, 

 1906, supplemented by notes made for about a month from June llth 

 onward in the previous year. The " hill " under notice was an oblong 

 patch of ground strewn with bits of turf, and overgrown with short 



1 A History of British Birds, iii. p. 114. 



