Ci Up. XIII. ■ 
LAW OF BATTLE. 
41 
half an hour, until one got hold of the head of the 
°ther which would have been killed, had not the ob- 
s « ver interfered ; the female all the time looking on as 
a d ui et spectator. 5 The males of an allied bird ( Galli - 
wistutux), as Mr. Blyth informs me, are one third 
'^'ger than the females, and are so pugnacious during 
breeding-season, that they are kept by the natives 
ot Eastern Bengal for the sake of lighting. Various 
ler birds are kept in India for the same purpose, for 
^stance the Bulbuls ( Pycnonotus hsemorrhous) which 
%ht with great spirit.” 6 
1 be polygamous Ruff ( Machetes puynax, fig. 37) is 
glorious for his extreme pugnacity; and in the spring, 
,, e 'nates, which are considerably larger than the 
morales, congregate day alter day at a particular spot, 
f here the females propose to lay their eggs. The 
s °' vlers discover these spots by the turf being trampled 
0 >UQWhat bare. Here they fight very much like game- 
0c hs, seizing each other with their beaks and striking 
ll j their wings. The great ruff of feathers round the 
t( ec k is then erected, and according to Ool. Montagu 
c ® Wee ps the ground as a shield to defend the more 
euc * er parts;” and this is the only instance known 
to 
shield 
n * e iu the case of birds, of any structure serving as a 
The ruff of feathers, however, from its varied 
1 rich colours probably serves in chief part as an 
^ u «nent. Like most pugnacious birds, they seem 
kil'. a y s ready to fight, and when closely confined often 
p ea )'h other; but Montagu observed that their 
luif! laCity becomes greater during the spring, when the 
at ^ , b-athers on their necks are fully developed; and 
ds period the least movement by any one bird 
J • ^kompson, ‘Nat. Hist, of Ireland : Birds,’ 
' aon . ‘ Birds of India,’ 1803, vol. ii. p. 90. 
vol. ii. 1850, p. 327 
