Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/200

142 activity and leads to its establishment in a definite place, and that it cannot search for a mate because its freedom of action in this respect is forbidden by law; that the female inherits no such disposition, that she is free to move from place to place, free to satisfy her predominant inclination, and to seek a mate where she wills; and, since the appropriate organic condition which leads to pairing must coincide with appropriate conditions in the environment, that the union of the sexes must be accomplished without undue delay. Furthermore we found that a territory is essential if the offspring are to be successfully reared; that, since the available breeding ground is limited, competition for it is severe, and that the male is precluded from leaving the ground which he has selected, and is obliged, in order to secure a mate, to make himself conspicuous. That was our general result. Now there are two ways by which the male can make himself conspicuous—by occupying such a position that he can be readily seen, or by producing some special sound which will be audible to the female and direct her to the spot. The former, by itself, is insufficient; in the dim light of the early dawn, when life is at its highest, and mating proceeds apace, what aid would it be for a male to perch on the topmost branch of a tree, how slender a guide in the depth of the forest? But whether in the twilight or in the dark, in the thicket or the jungle, on the mountain or on the moor, the voice can always be heard—and the voice is the principal medium