THE BUFF. 
807 
be laid so close to the body as not to be immediately 
apparent, in whatever position the bird may be: it 
comes with the spring moult, during which time another 
remarkable decoration peculiar to the male makes its 
appearance, in the shape of numerous fleshy tubercles 
on the face; these gradually encroach upon the feathers 
till, in old birds, they cover almost the whole of the head. 
On the beak are found warts, which grow to the size of a 
pea, and are supposed to be the result of wounds, received 
by the hero in his numerous duels. After the breeding 
season has terminated the ruff is moulted, and the 
tubercles become hidden again from view by the growth 
of the feathers. The Ruff now puts on his travelling 
dress, which is much more simple in character. 
In Central and South Germany he is most often met 
with in winter plumage, though he is occasionally seen 
in his summer dress. His principal habitat, however, is 
the North, where extensive marshes and swampy pastures, 
much frequented by cattle, are to be found. This bird is 
often found by the sea-coast, and prefers the marshes in 
its neighbourhood to all others, yet it is by no means a 
sea-bird. “It is never,” says Naumann, “seen on the 
flats, whether of mud or sand. When at the com¬ 
mencement of the ebb all other birds are seized with 
that jubilant restlessness which drives them hither and 
thither in clouds to alight on th'e ‘ flats/ scarcely waiting 
until the receding tide has left them room enough to 
swarm on and run about the slimy shore, then the Ruffs 
and Reeves that may happen to be in the neighbourhood 
join in the general jubilee, intermingling freely with other 
waders, though they never by any chance alight either 
on the mud ‘flats’ or on the sea-shore. I have often 
watched this joyous assembling with intense pleasure on 
5 o 
