90 DISPOSITION TO DEFEND THE TERRITORY 



justified, I think, in hesitating to accept this 

 view, and must look elsewhere for the real 

 condition under which the pugnacious nature of 

 the male is rendered susceptible to appropriate 

 stimulation. 



What then is the meaning of all this 

 warfare ? The process of reproduction is a 

 complex one, built up of a number of different 

 parts forming one inter-related whole ; it is 

 not merely a question of "battle," or of 

 "territory," or of "song," or of "emotional 

 manifestation," but of all these together. The 

 fighting is thus one link in a chain of events 

 whose end is the attainment of reproduction ; 

 it is a relationship in an inter-refeted process, 

 and to speak of it as being even directly related 

 to the territory is scarcely sufficient, for it 

 is intimately associated with the disposition 

 which is manifested in the isolation of the 

 male from its companions, and forms there- 

 with an impei^ium in imperio from which our 

 concept of breeding territory is taken. But 

 let me say at once that it is no easy matter to 

 prove this, for since so many modes of behaviour, 

 which can be interpreted as lending support to 

 this view, are likewise interpretable on the view 

 that the presence of a female is a necessary con- 

 dition of the fighting, it is difficult to find just 

 the sort of evidence that is required. Neverthe- 

 less, after hearing the whole of the evidence and 

 at the same time keeping in mind the conclusion 

 which we have already reached, I venture to 



