48 DISPOSITION TO SECURE A TERRITORY 



bed — is in that particular spot just because it 

 happens to alight there as it roams from place to 

 place, is to take a view which the observed facts 

 do not support. For as soon as the question 

 of reproduction dominates the situation, a new 

 condition arises, and the habits formed during 

 the previous months are reversed, and the males, 

 avoiding one another, or even becoming actively 

 hostile, prefer a life of seclusion to their former 

 gregariousness — all of which occurs just at the 

 moment when we might reasonably expect them 

 to exhibit an increased liveliness and restlessness 

 as a result of their endeavour to secure mates ; 

 and so universal is the change that it might 

 almost be described as an accompaniment of the 

 sexual life of birds generally. 



That the Raven and certain birds of prey 

 exert an influence over the particular area which 

 they inhabit has long been known, and it has 

 been recognised more especially in the case of 

 the Peregrine Falcon, possibly because the bird 

 lives in a wild and attractive country, and, 

 forcing itself under the notice of naturalists, has 

 thus had a larger share of attention devoted to its 

 habits. Moreover, when a species is represented 

 by comparatively few individuals, and each pair 

 occupies a comparatively large tract of country, 

 it is a simple matter to trace the movements 

 and analyse the behaviour of the birds. There 

 is a rocky headland in the north-west of 

 Co. Donegal comprising some seven miles or 

 so of cliffs, where three pairs of Falcons and two 

 pairs of Ravens have nested for many years. 



