Nevertheless, it is true that many resident males seem to pass through a period of indecision before they establish themselves permanently in their respective territories; they come and go, their visits grow more and more prolonged, and only after the lapse of some considerable time does the process of establishment attain that degree of completeness which is represented in the initial behaviour of the migratory male. Their whole procedure seems therefore to bear the stamp of individual acquirement; and, if it stood alone, we might be content to construe it thus, but the example of the migratory male necessitates our looking elsewhere for the real meaning of the indecision. Let me first of all give some instances of the persistence with which a male remains in one spot, and this despite the fact that it has no mate. A Reed-Bunting occupied a central territory in a strip of marshy ground inhabited annually by four or five males of this species. Throughout April, May, and until the 19th June, it clung to its small plot of ground, tolerated no intrusion, and sang incessantly. Two Whitethroats arrived at much the same time--the 30th April approximately--and occupied the corner of a small plantation; the one obtained a mate the day following its arrival, the other remained unpaired for a fortnight. A Reed-Warbler established itself amongst some willows and alders adjoining a reed-bed and made its headquarters in a small willow bush. Not more than fifteen yards away, on the edge of the main portion of the reeds, another male was established and was paired on the 22nd May. Each morning the single male behaved in much the same way, singing continuously whilst perched upon the bush. And so the days passed by until it seemed improbable that it would ever secure a mate, but one appeared on the 20th June, and a nest was built forthwith. Now it is difficult to believe that a chance visit, even though repeated for a few mornings in succession, could have accounted for the Reed-Bunting remaining so persistently in the marsh, or the Whitethroat in one corner of the osier bed, or the Reed-Warbler in that one particular willow. Not only so, but if a habit of such evident strength can be acquired so readily, we have a right to ask why it should only be acquired in the spring--why not at every season? Considerations such as these lead to the belief that there must be some congenital basis to account for such persistent endeavour; the more so since it is difficult not to be impressed with the conative aspect of the male's behaviour. To a stranger, unacquainted with its previous history, the bird might appear to be leading a life of hesitation, whereas, if carefully watched, its whole attitude will be found to betray symptoms of a striving towards some end; and the frequent departure and return, which might be pointed to as the material from which a definite mode of procedure would be likely to emerge, is in reality behaviour of a determinate sort.