Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/172

114 is always the possibility of invasion by an individual whose development is backward or which has been unsuccessful in making good the first step, and, as we saw in the case of the Reed-Bunting, a portion of the ground won may be lost; there is always the danger of gradual encroachment by neighbouring owners; and there is even a possibility that a pair may be so persistently harassed by more virile neighbours as to forsake the locality permanently. If then a male is to attain a full measure of success it must be capable of keeping its boundaries intact up to the time when the young are able to fend for themselves, and consequently it is important that its intolerant nature should remain susceptible to stimulation throughout the greater part of the season.

Does the presence of a female serve to promote this end? Now we know very little of the influence exerted by one sex upon the other. Professor Lloyd Morgan has suggested that the male raises the emotional tone of the female, a suggestion which seems to me in accordance with the facts. There is reason to believe, however, that the converse is also true—namely that the excitement of the male reaches a higher level of intensity when a female is present. Granting then that his emotional tone is raised, how will this affect the question? So great is the difference of opinion as to the part that the emotions play in furthering the life of the individual that one hesitates to accept any particular one. But it seems to be generally