BRITISH WARBLERS 



on the ground amongst the brambles, the female being 

 also close at hand. One of the males would sing quietly, 

 chiefly imitating other species, and the other one would 

 fly at him in a playful manner. All three birds would 

 then leave, both males singing excitedly, the male from the 

 adjoining territory retiring towards his own area, and the 

 other male following the female in the undergrowth. After 

 a short time the intruder would return and commence to 

 sing, but would not interfere. Sometimes, when in the 

 actual presence of the female, one of the males would sing 

 while the other would fly at her with feathers ruffled, 

 those on the head erected, and tail outspread, but on these 

 occasions I could not be certain which male was the rightful 

 owner. What, however, principally interested me when 

 watching this episode, was to notice the manner in which 

 the male who owned the territory, and who ultimately paired 

 with the female, behaved towards the intruder. As I have 

 already mentioned, whenever there is any question of owner- 

 ship of breeding territory, even if a female is present, a severe 

 struggle ensues, but in this instance this question was clearly 

 absent, and there being nothing to fear from his neighbour, 

 he treated him, as might be expected, with apparent indiffer- 

 ence ; this, indeed, was most conspicuous. Exactly a week 

 after this incident, a female having arrived in the territory of 

 the remaining unpaired male, pairing at once took place 

 between them. 



Where the males are numerous, two or even three pursue 

 one another when a female is present, but I have only 

 seen this taking place in the case of the later courtships, 

 and it is very probable that some of the males that take 

 part in such a pursuit may be already paired. Yet it is 

 a pretty sight to watch them, since the flight is not always 

 a rapid one — as is the case when they are sometimes 

 fighting with one another — but very slow. They extend their 

 wings fully and beat the air in the same way as when follow- 

 ing the female. The flight is indeed so slow that their 



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