76 DISPOSITION TO DEFEND THE TERRITORY 



under which the fighting occurred, one must 

 admit that this view would have much to 

 recommend it. But it is not merely a question 

 of males disputing in the presence of a female ; 

 for males fight when no female is present, pair 

 attacks pair, or a male may even attack a female 

 — in fact there is a complexity of strife which is 

 bewildering. 



In attributing the rivalry to the presence 

 of the female, it is assumed that males are in 

 a preponderance, and that consequently two or 

 more are always ready to compete for a mate. 

 Her presence is presumably the condition under 

 which his pugnacious nature is rendered suscep- 

 tible to its appropriate stimulus, the stimulus 

 being, of course, supplied by the opponent. 

 There would be nothing against this interpreta- 

 tion if it were in accord with the facts ; but it 

 can, I think, be shown that the males are just 

 as pugnacious and the conflicts just as severe 

 even when the question of securing a mate 

 is definitely excluded ; and I shall now give the 

 evidence which has led me to this conclusion. 



In the previous chapter we had occasion to 

 refer to the difference in the times of arrival 

 of the male and female migrants, and we 

 came to the conclusion, it may be remem- 

 bered, that this was a fact of some import- 

 ance, because it gave us a clue to the meaning 

 of much that was otherwise obscure in their 

 behaviour. But it is also of importance in 

 connection with the particular aspect of the 

 problem which we now have in view, for if it 



