Page:Territory in Bird Life by Henry Eliot Howard (London, John Murray edition).djvu/82

56 of other species gave no further support to our interpretation, if, in short, the evidence were to break down at this point, then we should be forced to seek some other explanation more in keeping with the general body of facts.

But far from placing any obstacle in the way of an interpretation in terms of inherited disposition, the behaviour of many of those residents which are not paired for life gives us even surer ground for that belief. Moreover in their case the initial stages in the process are more accessible to observation. I will endeavour to explain why. In the process of reproduction the environment has its part to play—whether in the manner here suggested, or indirectly through the question of food-supply, matters not at the moment. Now, migratory species are more highly specialised than resident species as regards food, and are affected more by variations of temperature, so that they can live for only a part of the year in the countries which they visit for the purpose of procreation. Hence the organic changes, which set the whole process in motion, must be coincident in time with the growth of appropriate conditions in the environment; for if it were not so, if the internal organic changes were to develop prematurely, the bird would [undertake its journey only to find an insufficiency of food upon its arrival, and this would scarcely contribute towards survival. Definite limitations have therefore been imposed upon the period of organic change. But in the