3 oo LAKES AND STREAMS 



sky, where it soars in circles and curves, at the same time hovering or 

 fluttering till it begins to descend, at first falling a little distance every six 

 or ei^ht seconds, later on every half minute, then rising again in a curve, and 

 finally darting down with tightly closed wings. Each time the male descends a 

 little there is heard the " drumming," a sound not unlike the bleating of a goat, 

 which is produced by the tail-feathers. 



The snipe is solitary by nature, but pairs occasionally travel in company, 

 and exceptionally in Europe it may be seen in flocks, or " whisps," as they are 

 called, up to thirty in number, although such parties are common enough in the 

 swamps of Bengal. When flying, it stretches its wings straight out and points 

 its beak downwards: it flies at great speed, beginning with zigzag curves, and 

 then going in a series of spurts. Its principal food is insects and their larva?, 

 worms, and small molluscs extracted from the soft ground, so that in winter its 

 condition varies with the weather, food being abundant when it is wet and 

 almost unobtainable in times of frost. 



A bird once familiar in the fens of England, but now almost 



Ruff 



exterminated as a breeding-species, is the ruff (Pavoncella jmgnax). 

 The most remarkable feature about this bird is, that when the cocks wear 

 their breeding-ruffs no two are exactly alike. The ruff and its consort the reeve 



are restricted to swampy and marshy situations, 

 where they only resort to the parts covered 

 with short grass. They prefer clear open spaces, 

 but although frequently seen near the shore, 

 where they follow other birds at low tide, they 

 are not really sea-birds, as they resort to the 

 coast only for a short time, and never shelter 

 close to the sea. The ruff bi - eeds inland, in 

 many parts of northern Germany, such as Anhalt, 

 a rfff challenging. the plains of the Elbe and Oder, Posen, Silesia, 



and east Prussia, and also in the north of France, 

 but more commonly in Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Finland, 

 its range extending through Siberia to China, Burma, and Borneo. On migration 

 through Europe to South Africa, it appears in flocks near the Lake of Constance, 

 and also, but not so often, on the Danube, the Xeckar, and other continental rivers. 

 Round the Menzaleh Lake in Egypt its numerous flocks consist almost exclusively of 

 females, from which it would seem that the males go farther south, and it has been 

 observed that they start on their migration before the others. The females, and some 

 of the young birds follow; the other young birds moving southwards in July and 

 August. According to the more or less northerly position of their breeding-places, 

 they return to them earlier or later. In some districts the nests consist of depressions 

 in the ground, lined witli grass and rootlets, but, as a rule, they are in tufts of 

 grass, and lined with grass and sedge. As soon as the female has begun laying 

 her three or four eggs in May, the male does not trouble any more about her or 

 her offspring. She alone has to protect her brood and lead them about in the 

 high grass, teaching them to find their food, and hide from their enemies. 



A ruff can run very quickly in case of need, walks erect and gracefully, and 



