The Ruff: Individuality in a Gregarious Wading Bird

VAN RHIJN, Johan G.

Published by London: T & A D Poyser:, First edition,, 1991

About this Item

xii, 209pp., b/w illustrations by Ian Walllis, 41 figures and 24 tables to text, orig. cloth gilt. A fine clean copy in a fine clean pictorial dustwrapper. From the library of C. Douglas Deane. (C. Douglas Deane was the Deputy Director and the Keeper of Natural Science in the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He served in the Royal Air Force during the war. He also was a member of various Government committees and other organisations relating to the natural history of Ulster and wrote regular articles in the Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph and the Belfast News Letter (Deane, 1983). He joined the staff of the Museum and retired after almost forty-five years. He specialised in birds and mammals of Ireland. He was a founder member of the Ulster Society for the Protection of Birds (later RSPB) and had a keen interest in the local history and naturalists. He received an honoury degree of Master of Science from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1974. He retired in 1977 and was presented with an O.B.E. on the Her Majesty's visit to Northern Ireland). The ruff is a species of bird whose elaborate breeding behaviour has fascinated ornithologists for decades. Their communal display ground, or leks, provide an extreme example of a social system widespread in birds and other animals, in which brilliantly plumaged males seemingly compete for the attention of passing females. In this book, Johan van Rhijn explores this complex and intricate behavioural pattern, both to lay bare the details of the players private lives, and to provide a means of exploring the wider variety of wader breeding systems. Strands of evidence for all aspects of the ruff's life, in and out of the breeding season, come together to give an insight into this important area of biology. Specialists and birdwatchers alike will find this text of interest.

Seller Inventory # 3310

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Ruff: Individuality in a Gregarious Wading Bird
• Publisher: London: T & A D Poyser:, First edition,
• Publication Date: 1991
• Binding: Hardcover
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included