FIELD AND STUDY 



battle-flag of the males, and when they unfurl it, 

 if it is not a challenge, it certainly indicates that 

 they have the "fighting edge." It is a notice to other 

 males that "this grove, or this corner of the field 

 is my territory, and I will tolerate no trespassers." 



The scarlet tanager, to which I have already re- 

 ferred, sings almost continuously. His battle-flag is 

 unfurled nearly all of the time. This morning I 

 heard a rival in the woods below, three or four hun- 

 dred yards away. The two birds seemed to be en- 

 gaged in a song contest. Presently the one in the 

 woods came down to a maple-tree in the pasture as 

 if he had said, "I will meet the braggart halfway." 

 The other bird took up the challenge and came over 

 to the edge of the woods near the pasture. The rival 

 singers soon found the strain too great, and when I 

 looked again I saw one pursuing the other in a hur- 

 ried, looping, swooping flight through the air. It 

 appeared to have been a " peace without victory," 

 and the two birds were soon back, each on his 

 own domain, celebrating his triumph. Such song 

 contests and collisions are very common among the 

 males of all species at this season. 



A duet, or a quartet, or a sextet, among the birds 

 is not to be thought of. Each singer wants at least 

 a bit of the listening world all to himself. He is jeal- 

 ous of all other songsters of his kind if they encroach 

 upon his domain. Birds that sing in concert, like 

 the goldfinches and the grackles, are the exception. 

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