BUFF AND UEKVK.J 



BY FIKLP, WOOD, AND AVATKK. [uufk and kekve. 



which is by some compared to tlio noiso made 

 bv rt person trying to vomit. Tho fomalo 

 builds her nest on rocky clifls, and lays three 

 or lour white eL;gs. Both inalo ami female are 

 vorv dillicult to shoot, on account of their 

 Oitreme wariness. 



THE RUFF AND KEEVE. 

 Tho Hit f 13 the Tringa PwyMaw of Linnrous, 

 and is the name given to the male ; whilst the 

 lieeve designates the female of this species of 

 fen-bird. The length of the rufF is about 

 twelve inches, and its weight ranges between 

 six and eight ounces. The bill is about an 

 iuch long, and is tipped with blaclc, but reddish 

 at the base. The distinctive mark which sepa- 

 rates the male from the female is a singularly 

 wide-spreading, variegated tuft of feathers, 

 which, in the breeding season, grows out of 

 his neck. This tuft, a portion of which stands 

 up like ears behind each eye, is in some 

 black, in others black and yellow, and, in rare 

 cases, white, russet, or barred with glossy 

 violet, black and white. The entire face of 

 the bird is covered with reddish tubercles, or 

 pimples; the wing-coverts are brownish ash- 

 colour; the upper parts and the breast are 

 generally marked with transverse bars, and the 

 scapulars with roundish shaped, glossy black 

 spots, on a rusty-coloured ground. The quills 

 are dusky ; the belly, vent, and tail-coverts are 

 white. The tail is brown, and the four middle 

 feathers in it barred with black. The legs are 

 of a yellowish hue. The male does not acquire 

 the ornament of his neck till the second season, 

 and, before that time, is not easily distinguished 

 from the female, except by being larger. After 

 moulting, at the end of June, he loses his ruff 

 and the red tubercles on the face ; and, from 

 that time, until the spring of the year, his 

 plumage again resembles that of his mate. 

 This singular tuft in the male bird, it has been 

 remarked, is not a warlike ornament, but only 

 a kind of defensive armour, fitted, by the 

 length, stiffness, and closeness of the feathers, 

 to palliate the blows of an assailant. 



The reeve is smaller than tho ruff, and has 

 no collar round the neck. She is brown in the 

 upper parts, and the middle of each feather is 

 dusky, and the larger quills are of tho same 

 hue. The secondaries are of rufous brown, and 

 the legs are yellowish. She lays four eggs in 



4 D 



the grasa, the ground-colour of which is white, 

 with iron-coloured spots. Aiuoiig sport.sinen 

 it is a rule, understood, not to t:iko tho reeves, 

 but to spare them for breeding purposes. 

 When the reeves arrive, tho ruff takes to what 

 is called hiUing ; which is selecting a suitable 

 place for pursuing his loves, and which is gene- 

 rally some elevated locality. Each ruff is said 

 to take possession of some small mound, or part 

 of a hill, which he wears (juite bare by hilling^ 

 or breeding upon it. 



An erroneous opinion prevails very gen- 

 erally, that ruffs, when in confinement, must 

 be fed in tho dark, lest the admission of light 

 should set them to fighting. Tho fact is, that 

 every bird, even when kept in a room, takes 

 its stand, as it would in the open air ; and if 

 another invades its circle, a battle ensues. A 

 whole room full of them may be set into fierce 

 contest by compelling them to shift their sta- 

 tions: but, after the disturber has quitted the 

 place, they have been observed to resume their 

 circles, and become again pacific. In confine- 

 ment, their quarrels originate in the circum- 

 stance of the pan containing their food not 

 being sufficiently large to admit the whole 

 party to feed without touching each other. 

 AVhen tho food has been divided into SETcral 

 pans, the birds have remained perfectly quiet. 



These birds migrate in the winter, and are 

 then supposed to associate with others of the 

 fen-bird species, among which they are no 

 longer recognised as the ruff" and the reeve. 

 In the spring, when they return, they take up 

 their residence in tho fenny districts, where 

 they were bred, when they, as a matter of 

 course, become the objects of the fowler's 

 sport. 



About Michaelmas is the time for taking 

 these birds ; but as few old males are caught, 

 an opinion has been formed that they migrate 

 before tho females and young. Is it not, 

 however, more probable that the few which are 

 left after the spring fowling, like other polyg- 

 amous birds, keep separate from the female 

 and her brood till the return of spring ? That 

 some old ruffs are occasionally taken in the 

 autumnal fowling is, perhaps, true ; but others 

 declare that none are taken at this season. 

 It must, however, bo recollected, that, in the 

 autumn, the characteristic long feathers have 

 been discharged, and, consequently, young and 



5G0 



