BRITISH WARBLERS 



To an observer unacquainted with their habits, the males 

 might appear to be pugnacious and to be constantly quarrelling 

 with their neighbours. The word "pugnacity" however 

 implies a wilful and useless bickering, a quarrelling more for 

 pleasure than for a purpose, and casts an unjust reflection on 

 the character of the bird. I do not mean to say that of its 

 frequent pursuits of other species none could justly come under 

 the heading of " play," but that in the majority of instances 

 there is a true cause, having its root in the question of 

 territory. Various species are flown at, attacked, and pursued ; 

 Hedge Sparrows, Sedge-, Eeed- and Garden-Warblers, White- 

 throats and Chiff-Chaffs all run the risk of a small encounter 

 when they enter the domain of a male ; and if we are to judge 

 by attitude he is not always irritated in a similar degree by 

 such intrusions, for sometimes he neither raises his feathers 

 nor spreads his tail. Perhaps it would be more correct to say 

 that the presence of a bird of another species seldom brings 

 about that extreme irritation which results in attitudes bearing 

 only one interpretation, but that the intrusion of a neigh- 

 bouring male of his own kin frequently does so. This 

 objection to the presence of another male in his territory can 

 be witnessed not only when a female is present, but even before 

 her arrival. At the same time it is more in evidence in its 

 active form and more intense when she is present. Nor is it 

 unnatural that this should be so, for sexual emotion has then 

 reached its maximum development, creating a high degree of 

 irritability which would be reflected in and would increase the 

 intensity of every motor reaction, no matter what the stimulus. 

 The attitudes which result follow similar lines to those of the 

 majority of other species, but they are decidedly more intense 

 than those of the Eeed Warbler. To describe instances of 

 extreme excitement : a male enters the territory of his neigh- 

 bour ; the owner, a little distance away, threatens, scolds, 

 opens his wings and then flies towards him, upon which he 

 beats a retreat. Or a male, espying an intruder, flies towards 

 him, and settling a few feet away raises the feathers on his 



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