104 DISPOSITION TO DEFEND THE TERRITORY 



ship between intolerance and the territory 

 on the one hand, and friendship and the 

 neutral ground on the other, is just as strong 

 a feature as it is in the behaviour of the 

 Lapwing. 



I shall now give a brief account of the 

 conduct of a male Reed-Bunting which by 

 persistent effort established itself late in the 

 season, and I shall do so because its behaviour 

 tends to confirm much that has been said in 

 the preceding pages. 



Early in March three male Reed-Buntings 

 occupied a small water meadow overgrown 

 with the common rush, and by the third week 

 all of them were paired. On the 30th March 

 two of the males were unusually pugnacious, 

 and on the following day fighting continued 

 and at times was very severe. Now I knew 

 that the occupants of the ground in which 

 the fighting was taking place were paired, 

 and not doubting that the combatants were 

 the owners of two territories marked for 

 convenience sake Nos. 1 and 2, I was at a 

 loss to understand the meaning of so determined 

 and persistent a struggle. My attention, how- 

 ever, was presently drawn to a third bird, which 

 also joined in the conflict and made the whole 

 situation still more perplexing. This bird, as 

 it soon became clear, was none other than the 

 owner of No. 2 territory, and the one that 

 I had previously regarded as such was a new 

 arrival. On the following day, the 1st April, 

 fighting continued, and in my record for that 



