THE MEANING OF THE FIGHTING 105 



day there is a note to the effect that *' No. 2 

 female seems to be of no interest to No. 5 

 male (the new arrival) ; its purpose seems to be 

 to drive away intruders." On the 2nd April 

 and subsequent days, this bird attacked every 

 other male that approached, and not only 

 maintained its position but ultimately succeeded 

 in securing a mate. Here then we have two 

 territories occupied by two males, both of 

 which had obtained a mate. The relation of 

 these two birds was normal, a month's routine 

 had defined their boundaries, and conflicts were 

 less frequent than formerly. But upon this 

 comparatively peaceful scene a strange male 

 intrudes. Observe the manner of the intrusion. 

 The stranger does not wander about first in 

 this direction and then in that, but acts as if 

 it had some definite end in view, and estab- 

 lishing itself in a small alder bush which it 

 uses as a base or headquarters, it gradually 

 extends its dominion, gains the mastery over 

 the surrounding ground, part of which belonged 

 to No. 1 male and part to No. 2, and finally 

 drives a wedge, so to speak, between the two 

 territories. 



How is its behaviour to be explained, and 

 why did its presence cause such commotion ? 

 No one could have watched the gradual unfolding 

 of this incident day by day and not have been 

 impressed by the persistent endeavour with 

 which this male maintained its position in one 

 small part of the meadow. This is the first and 

 most important consideration. Then there is 



