THE MEANING OF THE FIGHTING 107 



seemed so perplexing and meaningless becomes 

 a factor of prime importance. First of all the 

 male arrives ; then it establishes itself in a small 

 alder bush and advertises its presence by song ; 

 next, by persistent effort in attacking the 

 neighbouring males, it frees a piece of ground 

 from their dominion ; and finally, in proper 

 sequence, a female arrives, pairing takes place, 

 and reproduction is secured. 



How then does the whole matter stand ? If 

 it were males only that engaged in serious 

 conflict, and if they fought only in the presence 

 of a female, the problem would resolve itself into 

 one simply of obtaining mates. But the warfare 

 extends in a variety of directions, it is not 

 confined to one sex, nor to unpaired individuals, 

 nor need the opponents necessarily be of the 

 same sex ; it involves both sexes alike singly or 

 combined. Now the view that the biological 

 end of battle is, in its primary aspect, related 

 to the female, cannot, as we have seen, apply 

 to the conflicts between different pairs, and 

 only by much stretching of the imagination 

 can it be held responsible for the hostihty that 

 males frequently display towards females or vice 

 versa. It is valid only for a certain form of 

 warfare. But that form represents, you will say, 

 a large proportion of the whole, which is true ; 

 and so long as we ignore the remainder, we 

 might rest content in the belief that we had 

 solved the major part of the problem. But can 

 we ignore the remainder ? Can we say that the 

 conflicts between paired males, for example, are 



