Territory in Bird Life

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: There are a large number of compound words in this book including bird names which occur joined, spaced and hyphenated. No attempt has been made to correct these discrepancies as these are mostly alternative spellingd of thw same word. In the case of bird names it is difficult to decide as ornithologists are still debating on this subject.


When studying the Warblers some twenty years ago, I became aware of the fact that each male isolates itself at the commencement of the breeding season and exercises dominion over a restricted area of ground. Further investigation, pursued with a view to ascertaining the relation of this particular mode of behaviour to the system of reproduction, led to my studying various species, not only those of close affinity, but those widely remote in the tree of avian life. The present work is the outcome of those investigations. In it I have endeavoured to interpret the prospective value of the behaviour, and to trace out the relationships in the organic and inorganic world which have determined its survival. Much is mere speculation; much with fuller knowledge may be found to be wrong. But I venture to hope that a nucleus will remain upon which a more complete territorial system may one day be established.
I have to thank Mr. G. E. Lodge and Mr. H. Grönvold for the trouble they have taken in executing my wishes; I also want to record my indebtedness to the late E. W. Hopewell; and to Professor Lloyd Morgan, F.R.S., I am beholden more than I can tell.




In his Manual of Psychology Dr Stout reminds us that Human language is especially constructed to describe the mental states of human beings, and this means that it is especially constructed so as to mislead us when we attempt to describe the working of minds that differ in a great degree from the human.
The use of the word territory in connection with the sexual life of birds is open to the danger which we are here asked to guard against, and I propose, therefore, before attempting to establish the theory on general grounds, to give some explanation of what the word is intended to represent and some account of the exact position that representation is supposed to occupy in the drama of bird life.