BRITISH WAEBLEES 



way, singing continuously while perched upon the sunny side 

 of the bush which he had made his headquarters. If a single 

 bird or one of another pair attempted to intrude upon his 

 small domain, he fiercely attacked it, rapidly pursuing the 

 trespasser some distance into the dense mass of reeds, and 

 when a collision did occur the impact was considerable. If it 

 was a pair that was intruding the attack was generally aimed 

 at the male, but the female from the adjoining territory, while 

 collecting food for her young, was also attacked. Thus the 

 days passed by, sometimes peaceably, sometimes the reverse, 

 until this jealous defence of his territory seemed to me to be a 

 waste of energy and time, as it appeared to be improbable that 

 a female would arrive at so late a date. In this, however, I 

 was mistaken, for on June 20th a female appeared on the 

 scene, and nesting operations were forthwith commenced. 

 His behaviour now differed from what it had been previously ; 

 the headquarters were of secondary importance, aud he now 

 followed the female submissively. It is an interesting fact, 

 and not a little curious, that on the day on which the female 

 arrived — June 20th — the young of the adjoining pair finally 

 left the nest. Why should this male for twenty-eight days have 

 remained in the same small plot of ground? Why should 

 he day after day have been found in the same bush and upon 

 almost the identical branch pouring out his song ? And above 

 all, why should he have resented the approach of other mem- 

 bers of his own species, and have attacked them so viciously ? 

 I have already mentioned this question of breeding territory in 

 the life of other species. It is, I believe, a factor of no small 

 importance in the animal kingdom, and as such demands 

 further consideration. 



Those who have paid attention to the habits of birds during 

 the season in which the sexual organs are developing 

 can hardly have failed to notice the battles which are of 

 such frequent occurrence between the males of the same 

 species. Darwin believed that the primary object of these 

 struggles was the possession of a female, but for reasons 



