CONDITION ACCOMPANYING CHANGE 235 



they are compelled to resort to the surrounding 

 neighbourhood, and since, even there, the 

 available supply is sometimes scarce or, if 

 plentiful, limited to certain areas, they are 

 constrained from time to time to join together 

 again in flocks. Thus, for part of the year, 

 they may be said to lead a double existence ; 

 for just as the Whinchat, that is sociable on 

 migration, betrays a changed nature when it 

 reaches its destination, so too does the nature 

 of these residents change from hour to hour 

 according to whether they are seeking food or 

 occupying the breeding ground. 



In the newly-sown fields of grain the birds 

 frequently find a supply of food. Here Yellow 

 Buntings, Greenfinches, and Chaffinches collect 

 from the surrounding neighbourhood. The 

 majority are somewhere in possession of terri- 

 tories, and not a few are paired. Between the 

 territories and the feeding ground a highway is 

 formed by individuals passing to and fro. 

 Sometimes both members of the pair leave 

 together in order to seek food, at other times 

 they separate and the male may be in his 

 territory whilst the female is with the flock. 

 Apart from occasional manifestations of sexual 

 emotion on the part of a male, there is nothing 

 to disturb the harmony of the flock nor any- 

 thing in the behaviour of the birds which would 

 lead one to suspect that, when they return, their 

 nature will change and that they will be no 

 longer sociable ; and, which is still more remark- 

 able, no matter how great the provocation which 



