68 DISPOSITION TO SECURE A TERRITORY 



Nevertheless, it is true that many resident 

 males seem to pass through a period of indecision 

 before they establish themselves permanently 

 in their respective territories ; they come and 

 go, their visits grow more and more pro- 

 longed, and only after the lapse of some 

 considerable time does the process of establish- 

 ment attain that degree of completeness which 

 is represented in the initial behaviour of the 

 migratory male. Their whole procedure seems 

 therefore to bear the stamp of individual ac- 

 quirement ; and, if it stood alone, we might be 

 content to construe it thus, but the example 

 of the migratory male necessitates our look- 

 ing elsewhere for the real meaning of the 

 indecision. 



Let me first of all give some instances of the 

 persistence with which a male remains in one 

 spot, and this despite the fact that it has 

 no mate. 



A Reed-Bunting occupied a central territory 

 in a strip of marshy ground inhabited annually 

 by four or five males of this species. Through- 

 out April, May, and until the 19th June, it 

 clung to its small plot of ground, tolerated no 

 intrusion, and sang incessantly. 



Two Whitethroats arrived at much the 

 same time the 30th April approximately and 

 occupied the corner of a small plantation ; 

 the one obtained a mate the day following 

 its arrival, the other remained unpaired for a 

 fortnight. 



A Reed- Warbler established itself amongst 



