INFLUENCE OF THE FEMALE 113 



between the males is very severe, that large 

 numbers probably fail to pass even this pre- 

 liminary test, and that only a proportion are in 

 a position to offer to the female the condition 

 under which her process can successfully run its 

 course ; so that the presumption is — though it is 

 incapable of demonstration — that there is a com- 

 petition for such males each recurring season, 

 and that, on the average, the weaker females fail 

 to procreate their kind. 



But apart from any direct assistance she may 

 give in driving away intruders, does she in any 

 way help to further the biological end of repro- 

 duction ? This is a difficult question to answer, 

 and the suggestion I have to make can only 

 apply in those cases in which the territory is 

 occupied throughout the breeding season. 

 Much of the fighting between the males occurs 

 in her presence, and it must be admitted — 

 though it is difficult to speak with any degree of 

 certainty — that such fighting, taken as a whole, 

 bears the stamp of exceptional determination. 

 Let us then grant that the excitement of a male 

 does, under these circumstances, reach a higher 

 level of intensity, and let us see how this will 

 add to the security of the territory. The fact 

 that the male has established itself and obtained 

 a mate is not alone sufficient to accomplish the 

 end for which the territory has been evolved. 

 During the period between the initial discharge 

 of the sexual function and the time when 

 incubation draws to a close, much may happen 

 to prejudice the future of the offspring ; there 



