Note 19 — THE ASIATIC STEPPES AND THEIR FAUNA.

[Note 19] p. 102.—Fighting-ruffs.

The ruff (Machetes pugnax) is in many ways a most interesting bird. Thus, there is the rapid change of plumage, as the result of which the male acquires his characteristic frill or ruff before the breeding season. The indefatigable pugnacity of the males, the efficacy of their shield, their assiduous polygamous courtship, their subsequent carelessness as to the fate of the reeve and her young, and their extraordinary “polymorphism”, are very remarkable. While the individual peculiarities of plumage are very marked, each ruff is true season after season to its own idiosyncrasy. Visitors to the National Museum of Natural History in London will remember a beautiful case of ruffs in the Entrance Hall.