150 RELATION OF SONG TO THE TERRITORY 



What meaning does the song convey to a 

 male that is unestablished ? Does the bird 

 recognise that it is forestalled ; does it foresee 

 and fear the possibility of a conflict, and 

 conclude that the attempt to settle is not worth 

 while ? I do not imagine that it thinks about it 

 at all. How then does the warning warn ? 

 We will endeavour to answer this question, but, 

 in order to do so, we must review the stages by 

 which a territory is secured. 



We take as our starting point the internal 

 organic changes which are known to occur. 

 These changes are correlated with other changes, 

 manifested by a conspicuous alteration in 

 behaviour — to wit, the disappearance of socia- 

 bility and its replacement by isolation. Having 

 found a station which meets the requirements of 

 its racial characteristics, the male establishes 

 itself for a season, becomes vociferous, displays 

 hostility towards others of its kind, and in due 

 course is discovered by a female. The whole is 

 thus an inter-related whole, a chain of activities 

 which follow one another in ordered sequence. 

 Now we have seen that it is neither pugnacious 

 nor vociferous until the territory is actually 

 occupied ; we have seen that the fact of occupa- 

 tion is the condition under which the instincts of 

 pugnacity and of song are rendered susceptible 

 to appropriate stimulation ; we have discussed 

 the nature of the stimulus in each case, and we 

 wish to know the sort of meaning that the song 

 conveys to an individual which is still in the 

 preliminary stage of seeking a station. In 



