Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/288

226 On the other hand, the Sedge-Warbler is most aggressive towards other kindred species, and when a male happens to occupy the same ground as a Reed-Warbler, there are frequent battles between them and incessant commotion; they fly at one another and meet in the air with an audible clicking of bills, or pursue one another amongst the reeds, each one uttering its characteristic scolding note.

The Tits, as a family, are notoriously pugnacious. I have seen a pair of Blue Tits attack a single Long-tailed Tit with great determination, and not only did they pursue it, but, flying at it, struck it with considerable force.

In giving an account of the domestic economy of the Carrion-Crow. Mr Edmund Selous refers to the hostility between this bird and the Magpie. "About a week ago," he says, "I saw a Crow busily engaged in chasing away several Magpies, not only from three or four tall slender trees close together, in one of which it had its nest, but also from various other trees, not far off, round about. In this the Crow had a good deal of trouble, as the Magpies were always returning. After a time it was joined by another crow, which however did not take so active a part in the drama, nor did I see either of the two actually go to the nest, though I could only explain their action by supposing it was their own. This morning I saw the same thing reversed, for a pair of