Volume 34, Plate XVI / Ornithology (Birds)

Ruff

Machetes pugnax

A remarkable summer visitant breeding in the English fens and decreasing through capture and drainage, the Ruff is polygamous, the males gathering on a hill to display and combat with distended ruffs and erected wattles. The breeding plumage varies so that no two birds are alike, ranging from white to deep brown variegated with cross markings, and after the season the adornment is lost, leaving a snipe-like appearance.