154 RELATION OF SONG TO THE TERRITORY 



Are we then justified in the use of such 

 terms as "warning," "significance," or even 

 " meaning," when it is but a matter of stimulus 

 and response? In what does the impulse to 

 avoid other males consist ? There is no reason 

 to' suppose that there is any sensation of fear 

 in the first stage, and the course of behaviour 

 demonstrates that there is none in the later 

 stages. But it is difficult to conceive of an 

 impulse which has, as its end, the isolation 

 of the individual from members of its oAvn 

 sex and kind, without some feeling-tone, the 

 reverse of pleasurable, entering into the situa- 

 tion ; just as it is difficult to believe that the 

 female experiences no pleasurable sensation 

 when she hears the voice of the male that 

 directs her search. So that the song may be 

 actually repellent in the one case and attractive 

 in the other ; and it is none the less repellent 

 when, as in the later stages, it attracts a 

 neighbouring male, for the attraction is then 

 of a different order, determined by the presence 

 of the condition which renders the pugnacious 

 nature susceptible and leads to attack. In a 

 sense, therefore, we can speak of "meaning" 

 — though not perhaps of "significance" — and 

 of " warning," when we refer to the prospective 

 value of the behaviour. 



So much for the purpose of " song " ; there 

 still remains the more difficult question — the 

 question of origin. Let me make clear what 

 I mean by origin. As we have already seen, 

 there is infinite diversity in the sexual voice 



