This page has been validated.
Chap. XIII.
Law of Battle.
361

day at a particular spot, where the females propose to lay their eggs. The fowlers discover these spots by the turf being trampled somewhat bare. Here they fight very much like game-cocks, seizing each other with their beaks and striking with their wings. The great ruff of feathers round the neck is then erected, and according to Col. Montagu "sweeps the ground as a shield to defend the more tender parts;" and this is the only

Fig. 37. The Ruff or Machetes pugnax (from Brehm's 'Thierleben').