THE RUFF. 
811 
previous year. The most amusing scenes occurred when 
the females placed themselves between the Ruffs, while 
the latter were fighting, with a view of terminating the 
combat. They were fed on a compound made of milk- 
roll, barley-meal, curds, and different seeds; the last 
they will eat in their natural state, though their principal 
food consists of beetles, worms, and all kinds of small 
insects. 
The Ruff is a polygamist,—one never meets with a 
Ruff and Reeve that have paired off; and to the Reeve is 
left the entire business of the nursery. The first to 
appear in the breeding places are immature birds of the 
first year, generally of both sexes; in May the old knights 
errant put in an appearance; and, lastly, the Reeves arrive 
in large flocks. The whole company now separate, and the 
Ruffs commence their celebrated duels. It is estimated 
that of a number of Ruffs and Reeves frequenting a given 
locality, the Ruffs, that is to say mature fighting males, 
form a fourth of the entire mass; nevertheless, two males 
may often be seen peacefully consorting with one female, 
though a few minutes later they will break a lance in the 
tilt-yard. Certain Ruffs show a decided preference for 
certain Reeves, and are much in their company; but it 
cannot be said that they are ever bound by any permanent 
conjugal tie. The nests are often at some distance from 
the fighting ground, and are single, generally situated not 
far from water, on a small hillock: they consist of a 
hollow scraped in the ground, sparsely lined with a few 
bents and blades of grass. The eggs are from three to 
four in number, rather large, of an olive-coloured ground, 
spotted (often very irregularly) with rusty brown, bluish 
green, and olive-black spots. The female hatches her 
eggs in from seventeen to nineteen days, and is very 
