198 
THE RUFF. 
Full of ardour and jealousy, the polygamous Ruffs now 
seek out the company of the Reeves, and when they have 
chosen a breeding-place, the males, so remarkable for their 
irritability, assemble upon some contiguous rising spot of 
ground, where, like so many professed duellists, erecting 
the ruff in a threatening attitude, they take their stand at a 
small distance from each other, and in their sight, combat 
for the society of their favourite females. This resort for 
amorous combat is at length so trodden, that the turf 
appears bare, and this battle-field thus betrays its company 
to their general enemy the fowler. 
The Ruffs feed chiefly by night, repairing to the hill of 
contest about the dawn of day, and so pugnacious are they 
at this time, that they will often leap or flirt a yard from 
the ground, towards some wanderer or company who hap- 
pen to be passing by; and an imitation of this hostile 
attitude, by a rudely stuffed bird jerked at the end of a long 
string, is often sufficient to decoy the passengers to alight 
in the snare. The pugnacious disposition of the Ruff, ac- 
cording to Mr. Baillon, is exhibited as soon as they appear 
in April, and before their arrival at their breeding-place. 
In the marshes of Montreuil-sur-Mer, where he had often 
occasion to follow Them, he remarks, that their first object 
is to pair, or rather to fight with their rivals, while the feeble 
screams of the females rouse and exasperate their hostility, 
and their battles are often long, obstinate, and sometimes 
bloody. The vanquished betakes himself to flight, but the 
