Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/296

234 the other. Yet a Whinchat, when it has established itself, is most pugnacious; it not only attacks every bird of a similar size that approaches its position, but its behaviour under such circumstances bears the impress of unusual determination; and if we were to take a male and place it in the position of the Stonechat, we should find that its nature would change, that the presence of the Stonechat would evoke a hostile response, and, conversely, that the instinct of the Stonechat would not be susceptible to stimulation. Hence it is clear that the nature of a bird when on migration is not quite the same as it is when its destination is reached; that the positions occupied from time to time during the journey carry no meaning, or, rather, are not brought into relation with its life in quite the same way as is the position which it finally occupies; and further, it is clear that the interest it displays in other species undergoes a somewhat remarkable transformation when at length its destination is reached.

This altered nature of the migrant is a fact of some importance in relation to our present subject, but it does not stand alone—the same characteristic is observable in other phases of bird life. Some of the residents, the Buntings and the Finches for example, occupy their breeding ground very early in the year, and it often happens that the situations which they select are not capable of supplying them with food so early in the season, though at a later date food will be there in abundance; so that