Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/274

216 then give the reasons which lead me to believe that the fighting not only bears some relation to the "territory," but that it is an important factor in contributing to the attainment of that which for biological interpretation is the end for which the whole territorial system has been evolved.

Those who have studied wild life on one of the rocky headlands, which are so numerous round our coasts, will probably be familiar with the rivalry that exists between the Raven and certain birds of prey. Where the Raven finds shelter for its nest, there, too, the Peregrine has its eyrie—and so it happens that these two species are continually at war. Now the warfare occurs not only during the season of reproduction but continues throughout the greater part of the year, and can even be observed in the late summer or early autumn—the period when we should expect to find the instinct least susceptible to appropriate stimulation. But it is of a more determined kind early in the spring, and it is then that we often witness those remarkable exhibitions of flight, the skill of which excites our admiration. The Falcon rises above the Raven, stoops at it, and when it seems no longer possible for a collision to be avoided, or, one would imagine, for the Raven to escape destruction, the Raven skilfully turns upon its back and momentarily faces its opponent, and the Falcon with equal skill changes its course, passing upwards and away. The attack, however, is soon repeated, and