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PR.liCOCIAl- (iUAM-ATOHKS— LIMICOL.E. 



At tliis time till' reatlicrs of tlic lu'ck mv k''"*''*!'}' i'l«>ii^'i»ti'<l, ronning a kind of ciipe or ruff, nn<l tlir 

 face is ln'si't witli |)ii|iillii'. 



Tiu! Rail' is iiliout the size ol' the l>iirtram's Tnttlcr i>r Field Plover, which it othcrwiso rc-icin 

 blcs somewhat in color. It has the same mottlin<^' nl' the inner webs of primarioH n« in Trijiigilii 

 riiftnir»t>, t!i(iuf,'h not to so j^reat an extent, this feature not lieinj^ found in any other North 

 American Toluuea; tluaijjh seen in I/imuM, Jatua. 



Tilt' wt'll-kiiowii Ikiilf (if Eiiroiu; cliiinis ii pluci' in tlio North Ainorican fauna as ;i 

 not iiifn'(jii('iit stra,sj;^'lt'r witiiiii our limits. Several spccinicns have been from time 

 to time killed on Koii,i,' i.slaml. .More reeeiitly other examples have boon taken at 

 (iraml Menan, iill of wbieh were in their winter i)lumaf,'e. Two have boon taken in 

 ■"^iHsaelmsetts, and other, i various i>ortions of New Kiij,'lainl. in one instance .Mr. 

 A\ '.lliam Hrewster jiroi^iired a tine siieeimen near Newbiiryport, May L'O, IHTI ; it was 

 a feinalo, witli her ovaries so far developed as to romler it evident that she would 

 have been ready to deposit her oj;<^s within at least two or thi'o(? weeks. 



The nnist marked poeuliarity of this sjii'eies is tho annual appeariuiet^ of a ruff-like 

 growth of feathers about the neck of the malo, from which the bird derives its trivia! 

 name. The males, too, ditfer remarkaldy in their color — an uiuisual eiretinistancc 

 among wild birds — ami are polygamous. They are also much larger than tlic 

 females. 



This species has an extemh'd distrilmtion, being fotunl at certain seasons througii- 

 out Kurope, Northern Africa, aiul in Western Asia. It is only a migrant in (ircat 

 'Britain, making its appearance in .Vpril and leaving in the autumn. In Scandinavia 

 the Jviitt' a])poars in great nundiers on the eoa.st of Scoita :it the end of April or the 

 beginning of May. It is not knnwn to brood in tho southorn parts of Scandinavia, 

 althougli it does abtimlantly in Denmark. It reaches La|)laiul the last week in 

 May, whert^ it fretpieiits, on its first <'oming, tho margins of the lakes and rivers. .\s 

 soon as the grass has grown uj), it hides in tho extensive and gras.sy morasses, wliere 

 it can rarely be forced to show itself on tho wing. Tho old birds migrate south in 

 July, the young lingering until .August; by the loth they have all disapi)oarod. 



This species goes as far north as Iceland, visits !{ussia, and Siberia in the summer, 

 and the eountrios south in their migrations, at which times only are they seen in 

 Franco, Switzorlaml, Italy, etc. In a few oxceptional cases a ])air has occasionally 

 boon kiu)wn to breed in Switzerland. Individuals have also been taken at Malta, at 

 Tunis, Trebizond, in tho country about thi' (!aucasus, in Northwestern India, in Nepal, 

 near Cahaittti, ami throughout Lower Ilengal. 



Until within comparatively ft!w years tho ca])turo of tho living l)irds of this sjiocics 

 in England, and the fattening of them f(U" the London market, has been systomaticall\ 

 practised by certain persons. iMontagu mentions a m)te(l feeder at Spalding whose 

 family had been in this trade more than a century, and who, at tho time that iiuthor 

 visited him, had eiglity-bmr males and a dozen fenudos in contiiicment. Of the 

 fornnn- there wore not two alike. Those birds will feed greedil}'., tho moment thev 

 .are taken, on bread and milk or boiled wheat. The males are very pugnacious, and 

 conteiul for their food with so nuich obstinacy that they will not oat uidess tliero are 

 several dishes before them. Their actions in fighting are said to bo something like 

 those of a gcame cock. Although they present a very ferocious appearance when 

 fighting, yet they rarely injure one another. 



In the spring the Ruffs assemble on a rising spot of ground, where they contend 

 for the females. Advantage is taken of this by the fowler to capture them alive by 

 means of what is known as a clap-net. 



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