Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/184

126 apparently in contact with just those stimulating circumstances which will evoke a response when it returns to its territory, yet it makes no attempt to sing.

Lapwings, when they resort to the neutral ground, run this way and that in full enjoyment of one another's companionship, behaving as they do when they flock in autumn and winter. Specific emotional manifestation is, however, absent, and their actions seem to be in nowise affected by the powerful impulse which only a few minutes previously determined their conduct, for of the characteristic flight with its accompanying cry there is no sign.

Early in the season Turtle Doves often collect from the surrounding country at certain spots where their favourite food is abundant. The croak of this Dove—its true song—is a familiar sound during the summer, but in addition the bird has a sexual note characteristic of the race. I watched a flock of upwards of one hundred on some derelict ground approximately eight acres in extent. Here, in May, the birds were attracted by the seeds of Stellaria media which was growing in profusion. After 5 there was continuous traffic between this piece of ground and the surrounding neighbourhood, a constant arrival and departure of single individuals or pairs; and, as they fed, the sexual note could be heard in all directions. Now some of the males occupied territories close at hand, and one could watch their passage to and fro;