caught singly, being enticed fey the stuffed birds* These
stuffed skins are sometimes so managed as to be moveable
by means of a long string, sjor. that a j erk represents a j ump,
a motion very common among Ruffs, who at the sight of a
wanderer, flying by^ .will leap,- br flit a yard off the ground,
by that means inducing those- on wing~to‘ come and alight
by him.!’
‘‘When th e Reeves begin .to lay, both those and the Ruffs
are least:, shy, and sat easily caught, that a fowler assured us
he could, with certainty, take every bird in the fen imtthe
season. The females continue: this ' boldness,'? and their te*
merity increases as they become broody*; ;on ihie>.:Gontraryy?we-
-found the ,-males: at that time could not be approached .within
the distance/ bf'gun-shot. Thé females^the droves;'begin
layingthe&rcggs thev first-or second week an May?;>;sand we
have found their nest..with'young as early as the third of
jJune^Se/By this time the males-cease, to go boi Mil. The
nest is;usually formed upon a tump in rthfe Affiftavs swampy
places, surrounded by ooarse.grass, of which it is also formed.
The eggs areTour in number, of an ©liwe^dlour,. blotched
and spottèd with clove-and liver brown ^j.onefinchrsWenvBigès
in length, by one inch-one -ImbTaèidi'a:-half in bre^dthu .siThie
young, while covered with down,; are/prettals^spotte^ soon
leave their nest, and-are difficult to'-find without a.-good? dog.
The autumnal catching is. usuaUytabout Michaelmas, atjwfiieh
time few old males are taken,-from which.an. opïnios®itó/btéh
formed, that they migrate beforevthe females andtyming.- I t
•is, however, more probable that th e few which are left after
•the spring-fowling, like other polygamous birds,- beep in parties
separate from the female and her brood till, th e : return
of spring.” Montagu took the trouble of transporting several
-of these birds, both males and females, with him from Lincolnshire
into Devonshire, some of them lived three years in
captivity, and one of them four years: the changes they
underwent will be noticed under the description of plumage.
Montagu says, that “ in confinement the males paid no attention
to the Reeves, except to drive them from their food;
they never attempted to dispute with any other species, but
would feed out of the same dish with Land Rails, and other
birds confined with them, in perfect amity A’ In a wild state
.they feed upon insects and worms.
In.-Ireland, as recorded by Mr. Thompson, the Ruff appears
occasionally in spring and autumn. A few are observed
in various parts of'England, generally in autumn. A
Considerable flight, supposed to be young birds, were seen
near Godaiming in Surrey, on the 20th Qf August, 1836.
The Rev. Richard Lubfebek cends me word that in Norfolk
the Ruff, is still found in small numbers, in different parts
of the fens of that county* b u t. so much decreased, that the
•fenmen find setting snares for them no longer answers. He
has never, known them taken. with a net in Norfolk, but
always by the . gun, or horsehair nooses disposed upon the
Mil, An old snarer told him he had taken six couple in
a morning off one hill, A man has been known to make
five -or * six- pounds, > by these birds, sold at two shillings each,
in one season. A, small flock annually frequents Prestwick
•Car, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in autumn. Mr. Heysham
has recorded the:appearance of. young birds in the neighbourhood
of Carlisle, in the autumn of 1830, and. ’32..
Mr. Dann’s notes on the Ruff in Scandinavia are as follow
: “-This bird appears in great numbers on the coast of
Scona at the end of April or the beginning of May, but is
not known to breed in the southern parts of Scandinavia, although
it breeds abundantly in Denmark, from whence I
have.had the eggs. It arrives in Lapland the last week in
May»j and frequents, on its first coming, the shores of the
lakes and rivers ; as soon, however, as the swamps are thawed,
and the grass begins- to spring up, which is simultaneous
2 f 2