50 DISPOSITION TO SECURE A TERRITORY 



eminently unsuited to their requirements, and 

 disappear ; Wood- Warblers arrive in some old 

 haunt, and finding it no longer suitable for 

 their purpose, seek new ground. So that plenty 

 of individuals are always to be found, which, for 

 the time being at least, are wanderers. 



In the district which I have in mind, the 

 wandering males form only a small part of the 

 incoming bird population. The majority of 

 individuals that fall under observation are those 

 that have made this particular district their 

 destination ; and in doing so, they may possibly 

 have been guided by their experience as owners 

 or inmates of former nests, for it cannot be 

 doubted that a return to the neighbourhood of 

 the birthplace would lead to a more uniform 

 distribution and therefore be advantageous, and 

 the tendency to do so might consequently have 

 become interwoven in the tissue of the race. 

 How, then, do they behave ? A certain amount 

 of movement, an interchanging of positions, even 

 though restricted to an area defined, let us say, 

 by experience, might be expected under the 

 circumstances — that, however, is not what we 

 find ; we observe the available situations plotted 

 out into so many territories, each one of which 

 is occupied by a male who passes the whole of 

 his time therein. Take whatever species we 

 will — Whitethroat, Whinchat, Willow- Warbler, 

 Red-backed Shrike, it matters not which, for 

 there is no essential difference in the general 

 course of procedure — this condition will be 

 found to prevail. Generally speaking, the 



