CHAPTER IV 



THE RUFF AND THE REEVE 



When the RufFs first arrive, about the middle 

 of April, the frills round the necks of the males are 

 but half grown ; the tubercles on the face, the tufts, 

 and the ruff disappear in July. The colours of the 

 ruff in particular, as well as those of the body, are so 

 varied that hardly two birds can be found alike. 



The Reeve, as the female is called, constructs a 

 flimsy nest in the centre of a tuft of swamp herbage, 

 coarse grass, or sedge ; the eggs being four in 

 number, grey green in ground-colour, blotched and 

 spotted with reddish-brown and markings of brown 

 grey. The Ruff is polygamous in its habits, and 

 during the breeding season very pugnacious. 



At the present time there are but two or three 



localities where these birds remain to rear their 



young, and these we will not mention, for very good 



reasons, which the true bird-lover will understand. 



The marshes and swamps they once frequented 



have been reduced by the modern system of drainage 



to such an extent that very few places are now left, 



suitable for them to breed in. The catching of Ruffs 



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