The Buff and, Beeve. 
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THE BUFF AND EEEVE. (Machetes pugnax.) 
It is curious to see, in our observation of natural objects, 
how the creative power of Providence seems to have 
tried all forms and shapes in the composition of species. 
In the cock bird of this species a circle or collar of long 
feathers, somewhat resembling a ruff, encompasses the 
neck under the head, whence the bird has received the 
name of Buff. It is about a foot in length, with a bill 
about an inch long. There is a wonderful and almost 
infinite variety in the colours of the feathers of the males ; 
so that in spring there can scarcely be found two exactly 
alike ; but after moulting they become all alike again. 
The males are sometimes called Fighters, on account 
of their quarrelsome disposition. It is a bird of passage, 
and arrives in the fens of Lincolnshire, and other similar 
places, in the spring. Mr. Pennant tells us, that in the 
course of a single morning more than six dozen have 
been caught in one net, and that a fowler has been 
known to catch between forty and fifty dozen in a 
season. 
