To what does this change lead? Let us suppose that there is an area
inhabited by one species; that the number of inhabitants has reached the
maximum that the means of sustenance will allow; and that the season of
reproduction is drawing to a close. The position will then be as
follows. All the available breeding ground is divided into territories;
each territory is occupied by one unit, the family, and each individual
is able to fend for itself; changes both internal and external begin to
take place, the gregarious instinct comes into functional operation, and
the supply of food diminishes--that roughly is the position. The
internal factor operates so that the sight of this individual or the
call of that, instead of evoking hostility as heretofore and keeping
different units apart, proves now an irresistible attraction; so that in
place of a number of individuals evenly dispersed over the whole of this
area, a small number of flocks of various dimensions are stationed at
certain points, which points are determined partly by experience, partly
by the supply of food, and partly by accident. This implies for each
individual some movement in some direction. But since the population of
this imaginary area has reached the maximum, and the supply of food,
though limited in distribution, is nevertheless plentiful, such
movements will be irregular and will proceed in no definite direction.
Now let us suppose that the breeding range extends and that fresh ground
is occupied by pioneers. When reproduction and the rearing of broods are
ended and the gregarious instinct becomes dominant, these pioneers, or
at least some of them, will revisit the area wherein formerly they
associated with companions. Their offspring, however, though they will
have the inherited impulse and the innate tendency, will not have the
experience; how then will they behave? There can be no doubt that some
will accompany the older birds, and, being led by them, will share the
experience of a former generation; nor any question that others will
collect together in the neighbourhood of their birthplace and, if their
impulse is satisfied, will remain there so long as food is to be found.
Thus the gregarious instinct, working in close relation with acquired
experience, will on the one hand lead to the formation of organised
movements in certain directions, whilst on the other it will lead to the
formation of new areas of association which will follow in the wake of
the expansion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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