156 The Irish Naturalist. June, 



exactly that which cock birds adopt in fighting. In fact, it 

 was obviously doing battle with its own reflection in the glass. 

 For this purpose it repaired to the same window every morn- 

 ing during the whole of March, and the greater part of April. 

 It never, so far as we could make out, noticed itself, or looked 

 for itself in any other window — but used all its energies against 

 this particular one. I need scarcely say it was a fine cock 

 Blackbird, and we found that there was a Blackbird's nest 

 about ten yards away from the spot where these daily battles 

 went on. 



Towards the end of April the Blackbird made peace with his 

 similitude in the glass ; but before the end of Februar}'', 1899, 

 we found that hostilities had begun again, and in March of 

 that year another feud broke out of the very same kind. One 

 morning in March, 1899, I was surprised to hear what sounded 

 suspiciously like the Blackbird battering himself at a window 

 at the other side of the house, and after several unsuccessful 

 attempts to stalk the performer at this window, I found it was 

 a cock Chaffinch, who had an antipathy to his reflection show- 

 ing itself in the window of a storeroom. So all through the 

 spring of 1899 we had two daily battles going on. And in the 

 third spring, the spring of 1900, it was exactly the same^ the 

 "crazy Blackbird" — as he was called — fighting himself at one 

 side of the house, and the equally infatuated Chaffinch doing 

 the same at the other. After that year, I regret to say, we 

 saw the Blackbird no more ; but the cock Chaffinch resumed 

 his campaign at the storeroom window with unabated energy 

 in the spring of 1901. 



Now, in these two cases it is evident that the imaginary 

 enemies, on whom so much fury was expended, were guiltj^of 

 no crime beyond that of being in the spot where they were. 

 They had paid no presumptuous address, had uttered no song, 

 challenge, or love-note, and had never taken the slightest 

 notice of the fair partner of either of their angry antagonists. 

 The whole sum and front of their ofle.nding was being where 

 the}' were. The imaginary Blackbird was in the demesne 

 attached to a real Blackbird's nest ; the imaginary Chaffinch 

 was in the demesne attached to a real Chaffinch's nest. The 

 real Chaffinch and the real Blackbird were resolutely deter- 

 mined to expel the trespassers ; and the trespassers, although 



