406 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



arrival of the female ; less during pairing-time ; again more 

 during incubation ; and less during the rearing of the brood. 

 While these singing-posts — or "song-centres," as they may be 

 called — are only exceptionally intruded upon by neighbouring 

 males, adjacent territories may overlap — that is to say, their 

 outlying parts may be common to two or even more males. This 

 mutual encroachment of different birds is most pronounced, 

 naturally, in woods thickly populated by the species. Further, 

 on the arrival of the females, the males extend their rounds 

 temporarily, visiting spots hitherto ignored, and, as will be 

 repeated presently, nests may be built in such places. In short, 

 it would be quite impossible, without drawing too largely on 

 the imagination, to mark off in the map of this wood de- 

 finite boundaries dividing the individual territories from one 

 another. 



From the nebulosity of the dividing lines it follows that 

 neighbouring birds frequently meet. When this happens, con- 

 flicts may take place, but quite as frequently the birds ignore 

 each other. Males are the more jealous, but on occasion I 

 have known the females attack and drive away others of 

 their sex. 



The choice of the nesting-site appears to lie with the female, 

 and it may be pointed out that, of the twenty-one first broods in 

 the wood, in no instance was the nest situated immediately 

 beneath or beside the male's song-centre ; usually it was at 

 some considerable distance, and in a number of cases in ground 

 not previously included in the male's beat. This latter fact, 

 perhaps, need not surprise one. There is nothing to show that 

 the female has any cognizance of what constitutes the limits of 

 her mate's territory. Certain it is, at any rate, that she re- 

 peatedly passes beyond these limits, and in some cases nests 

 outside them. An interesting illustration of the latter case is 

 furnished by the three nests, Nos. 10, 11, 12. Here an open 

 fern-grown piece of ground, nearly clear of trees, and sur- 

 rounded on all sides by thick growth, has been selected by three 

 different females for nesting-quarters, although none of the males 

 included this part within their territories. Two of the nests 

 were situated only thirteen yards apart. At the same time it 

 seems that in woods of thin growth the nests tend to be on the 



