68 DISPOSITION TO SECURE A TERRITORY 



Nevertheless, it is true that many resident 

 males seem to pass through a period of indecision 

 before they establish themselves permanently 

 in their respective territories ; they come and 

 go, their visits grow more and more pro- 

 longed, and only after the lapse of some 

 considerable time does the process of establish- 

 ment attain that degree of completeness which 

 is represented in the initial behaviour of the 

 migratory male. Their whole procedure seems 

 therefore to bear the stamp of individual ac- 

 quirement ; and, if it stood alone, we might be 

 content to construe it thus, but the example 

 of the migratory male necessitates our look- 

 ing elsewhere for the real meaning of the 

 indecision. 



Let me first of all give some instances of the 

 persistence with which a male remains in one 

 spot, and this despite the fact that it has 

 no mate. 



A Reed-Bunting occupied a central territory 

 in a strip of marshy ground inhabited annually 

 by four or five males of this species. Through- 

 out April, May, and until the 19th June, it 

 clung to its small plot of ground, tolerated no 

 intrusion, and sang incessantly. 



Two Whitethroats arrived at much the 

 same time — the 30th April approximately — and 

 occupied the corner of a small plantation ; 

 the one obtained a mate the day following 

 its arrival, the other remained unpaired for a 

 fortnight. 



A Reed- Warbler established itself amongst 



