Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/312

244 in rearing one, if not two broods, yet the number of pairs never exceeded five—the first year there were three; the second year five; and the third year four. In addition to the four pairs of Reed-Buntings, there were in the spring of 1915, six pairs of Whitethroats, one pair of Lesser Whitethroats, four pairs of Willow-Warblers, one pair of Sedge-Warblers, two pairs of Grasshopper-Warblers, one pair of Chiffchaffs, three pairs of Hedge-Sparrows, two pairs of Tree-Pipits, one pair of Skylarks, one pair of Whinchats, one pair of Flycatchers, two pairs of Song-Thrushes, one pair of Blackbirds, one pair of Redstarts, three pairs of Chaffinches, and one pair of Wrens—in all, thirty-five pairs, whose young were mainly dependent for their living upon the insect life of that meadow and the ground immediately surrounding it. If we allow three young to each pair—and this would take no account of second broods—we arrive at the following result, namely, that one hundred and five young and seventy adults had to be supplied with food from that locality, which would mean, if the search for food were strictly limited to that meadow, that 83 square yards would be allotted to each individual.

Suppose now that the four male Reed-Buntings had each admitted one other male, and that they had secured mates, what would have been the effect upon the whole community? The four additional pairs with their young would have represented twenty individuals, which would have represented a decrease of