251 
OF BIRDS* 
neck are furnished with long feathers, standing out some- 
what like the ruff worn by our ancestors; a few of these 
feathers stand up over each eye, and appear not unlike 
ears* The colours of the ruffs are in no two birds alike: 
in general they are brownish; and barren with black: 
though some have been seen that were altogether white. 
The lower parts of the belly and the tail coverts are 
white. The tail is tolerably long, having the four mid- 
dle feathers barred with black; the others are pale brown. 
The legs are of a dull yellow, and the claws black. The 
female, which is called the reeve, is smaller than the 
male, of a brown colour, and destitute of the ruff on the 
neck. 
The ruffs are much more numerous than the reeves, 
arid they have many severe contentions for their mates. 
The male chuses a stand on some dry bank, near a splash 
of water, round which he runs so often as to make a bare 
circular path: the moment a female comes in sight, all 
the males within a certain distance commence a general 
battle; placing their bills on the ground, spreading their 
ruff, and using the same action as a cock: and this op- 
portunity is seized by the fowlers, who, in the confusion, 
catch them, by means of nets, in great numbers; yet even 
in captivity, their animosity still continues. 
The reeves lay four eggs, in a turft of grass about the 
beginning of May; and the young are hatched in about 
a month. 
Redshank. (PI. 43.) This bird weighs about five 
ounces and a half, and is twelve inches long. The bill 
is two inches, red at the base, and black towards the 
point. The head, neck, and scapulars are dusky ash- 
colour, obscurely spotted with black: the back is white, 
spotted with black: the breast is white, streaked with 
dusky lines. When its nest is in danger it makes a 
noise somewhat similar to that of the lapwing. 
The greenshank is a bird of the same kind as the for- 
mer, but about two inches longer; its habits, disposition, 
modes of subsistence, and colour the same; with the ex- 
ception of its legs, which are green, from which circum- 
