226 THE RUFF AND REEVE. 



one of the other sex is the signal to a general contest. The 

 scene is now one of perpetual warfare, female after female 

 arriving at the hill, so that " the theatre of these battles," as 

 Selby observes, "soon becomes bare of grass from the constant 

 traversing of the combatants." Not only have the neck and 

 ear plumes now attained their perfection, but the face of the 

 male becomes covered with small yellowish papillae, or fleshy 

 excrescences, instead of the short feathers with which it is 

 ordinarily clothed. During the whole of May and the early 

 part of June, this scene of warfare continues with unabated 

 energy. The manner in which the ruff rights has much re- 

 semblance to that of the game cock ; the head is lowered, the 

 plumes are thrown up into a disc, the tail is expanded, and 

 each adversary attempts to seize the other with his bill, fol- 

 lowing up his advantage by a blow with the wing. The legs 

 are too feeble to strike with, and they are not armed, as in 

 the fowl; the contest, therefore, is seldom fatal, the van- 

 quished being rather wearied out and dispirited by the superior 

 strength and determination of his antagonist than seriously 

 injured. Towards the latter part of June this combativeness 

 abates, the papillae on the face disappear, and shortly after- 

 wards the fine plumes are moulted off, their place being sup- 

 plied by ordinary feathers. 



The females, or reeves, which, as we have intimated, only 

 visit the hill at intervals, breed among the swamps. The nest, 

 consists of little more than a slight depression among a tuft of 

 grass or rushes, or other herbage which luxuriates in such 

 situations. The eggs are four in number, and closely resem- 

 ble those of the snipe, only being somewhat larger. In the 

 group of grallatorial birds, to which the present species be- 

 longs, the females usually exceed the males in size ; here, 

 however, the females are much smaller than the males, and 

 moreover undergo no corresponding changes of plumage. 

 With respect to the beautiful plumes which for a season 

 ornament the ruff, one circumstance is remarkable ; we al- 

 lude to the diversity of their coloring. . In no two examples is 

 the color precisely alike. We have seen them pure white ; 



