Courtship 



rise into an erect position with beaks, in which a piece of 

 water weed is held, nearly touching. Tiring of their per- 

 formance, they cast away their burdens, resume their head- 

 wagging for a time and eventually return to their feeding. 

 The comical antics of these whimsical birds may be 

 aptly described as one of Nature's pantomimes. 



Another curious performance is enacted by the ruffs. 

 By a strange coincidence the ruff, like the great crested 

 grebe, has feathery "ears" and a voluminous ruff from 

 which he takes his name just behind his head. Perhaps 

 these " eared " birds, by reason of the unusual arrangement 

 of their feathers, appear more eccentric than they would do 

 were they more normally clad. The ruff is a long-legged, 

 long-beaked bird, closely related to the snipe, and is 

 peculiar in the fact that no two individuals are ever exactly 

 alike, in colour or in markings. 



The courtship in these birds begins with a tournament 

 on the part of the males for the possession of the females 

 each ruff may have several wives. Very early in the 

 morning, just about sunrise, in fact, these tourneys begin. 

 A couple of ruffs will puff out their neck feathers, face one 

 another and stand perfectly motionless, with the tips of 

 their long beaks resting on the ground. After a period 

 which appears unduly prolonged they attack one another, 

 but not very fiercely, their object, apparently, being not to 

 cause bloodshed, but simply that one of the suitors should 

 be driven from the field. The more courageous ruffs, 

 having got rid of their rivals, compete for the favours of 

 the hens. The ruff is a persistent suitor, and he need be, 

 for a more blase mate than the hen bird, or reeve as she is 

 called, it would be hard to find. 



Time and again the male will force his attentions on his 

 mate, only to be as frequently rebuffed. He displays his 

 " ears " and ruff to the best of his ability before the lady 

 bird and rests his beak upon the ground the while he 

 appears lost in thought ; she, on her part, will as likely 

 as not run or fly away before her mate has completed 



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