Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/291

Rh we start on firmer ground, because the one factor which introduced an element of uncertainty—the female—can be definitely excluded; at least it seems so to me, for granting even that her presence is the condition under which the pugnacious nature of the male is rendered susceptible to stimulation, it is difficult to see why a male of a different species should supply that stimulus, or what biological purpose could be served by its doing so.

When dealing with the attitude of a male towards others of its kind, we attached considerable significance to the fact that its pugnacious nature gained or lost susceptibility according to the position which it happened to occupy. We found, it will be remembered, that the same bird that was pugnacious in its own territory took no further interest in its opponent when the boundary was passed; and, moreover, that if it happened to wander into an adjoining one, it made no, real effort to defend itself when attacked, but returned forthwith to its own headquarters. It remains to be shown whether the rivalry between different kinds of birds is similarly related to the position which the opponents happen to occupy at the time.

First, then, there is the general consideration, namely, that the enmity occurs for the most part just at the time when the territories are in process of being established. During autumn and winter, many birds of more or less close affinity assemble together in flocks, wherever the supply of food is abundant, and are then