158 RELATION OF SONG TO THE TERRITORY 



and breast are white, the flanks are dull white 

 spatted with black, and the mantle is reddish- 

 brown. The third is immature : the crown, 

 instead of being black, is suffused with brown ; 

 the collar, instead of being white, is mottled with 

 brown ; and the flanks are more heavily streaked 

 with brown. These three birds take up their 

 positions in February, and, as is their wont, 

 sing incessantly each day at daybreak. The 

 song of the first two is normal, including the 

 usual number of phrases which flow in no 

 definite sequence, but are combined and re- 

 combined in different order, and the tone is 

 pure ; that of the third, the immature bird, 

 is, however, very different; for just as in 

 comparison its plumage is dull, so the phrases 

 of its song are limited and reiterated with 

 great monotony, the tone is impure, and the 

 whole performance is dull and to our ears 

 unmusical. I watch them from February to 

 June, and observe the order in which they are 

 mated — first a mature male ; next, after a short 

 interval, the immature male ; and finally, after 

 a still longer interval, the remaining bird gets 

 a mate. As the season advances, still keeping 

 watch on the development of the plumage 

 and of the voice of the immature male, I 

 observe that no very definite change takes 

 place — that the colours remain dull, that 

 there is a conspicuous absence in the song of 

 certain phrases, and that the notes lack purity 

 of tone. 



If now, instead of Reed-Buntings in a marsh, 



