Now the subsequent course of behaviour tends to confirm this view. We
have already had occasion to refer to the fact that the males of some
species desert their territories temporarily and join together on ground
which is regarded by the birds that associate there as neutral, and that
they do so not merely for the purpose of securing food but because they
derive some special pleasure from the act of association, and we shall
find that the altered behaviour of the male when it leaves its territory
to seek food or to join the flock is an important point for us just now.
Buntings desert their territories temporarily and collect in flocks on
the newly sown fields of grain. Some of the males are single, others are
paired, and accompanied, it may be, by their mates; they wander over the
ground in search of food, uttering their call-notes from time to time,
or, settling upon the hedges and trees surrounding the field, rest there
and preen their feathers. But even though a male may be surrounded by
other males, even though it may occupy a position where it is
conspicuous to all around, even though, that is to say, it is
apparently in contact with just those stimulating circumstances which
will evoke a response when it returns to its territory, yet it makes no
attempt to sing.
Lapwings, when they resort to the neutral ground, run this way and that
in full enjoyment of one another's companionship, behaving as they do
when they flock in autumn and winter. Specific emotional manifestation
is, however, absent, and their actions seem to be in nowise affected by
the powerful impulse which only a few minutes previously determined
their conduct, for of the characteristic flight with its accompanying
cry there is no sign.
Early in the season Turtle Doves often collect from the surrounding
country at certain spots where their favourite food is abundant. The
croak of this Dove--its true song--is a familiar sound during the
summer, but in addition the bird has a sexual note characteristic of the
race. I watched a flock of upwards of one hundred on some derelict
ground approximately eight acres in extent. Here, in May, the birds were
attracted by the seeds of _Stellaria media_ which was growing in
profusion. After 5 A.M. there was continuous traffic between this piece
of ground and the surrounding neighbourhood, a constant arrival and
departure of single individuals or pairs; and, as they fed, the sexual
note could be heard in all directions. Now some of the males occupied
territories close at hand, and one could watch their passage to and
fro; yet in no single instance did I hear the true song uttered on the
feeding ground, although the moment a male returned to its territory its
monotonous croak could be heard, uttered moreover with that persistence
which is so marked a feature of all song or of the sounds that
correspond to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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