y pugnacious, but not more so than the
Marsh-Warbler or the Whinchat. Here in Worcestershire, the _Arundo
phragmites_ grows mainly on certain sheets of water which are
comparatively few and far between, and the Reed-Warbler is consequently
restricted to isolated and more or less confined areas. The males arrive
early in May before the new growth of reeds has attained any
considerable height, and each one has its own position in the reed-bed,
sings there, and throughout the whole period of reproduction actively
resists intrusion on the part of other males. I have kept watch upon a
small area of reeds daily from the date of the first arrival; each
individual was known to me, and as the growing reeds were only a few
inches in height, a female could scarcely have escaped detection. Yet
time and again disputes arose, and males pursued and pecked one
another, striving to attain that isolation for which racial preparation
had fitted them.

But on account of their violence, or their novelty, or because the
absence of a female was beyond question, some battles stand out in one's
memory more prominently than others. An instance of this was a struggle
between two Whitethroats which happened in the latter part of April and
lasted for three successive days. The scene of its occurrence was more
or less the same on each occasion, and the area over which the birds
wandered was comparatively small. The fighting was characterised by
persistent effort and was of a most determined kind, and so engrossed
did the assailants become that they even fluttered to the ground at my
feet. No trace of a female was to be seen at any time during these three
days, nor, during the pauses in the conflict, was the emotional
behaviour of a kind which led me to suppose that a female was anywhere
in the vicinity. And, if she had been near, she must have made her
presence known, for the belief that she is a timid creature, skulking on
such occasions in the undergrowth, is by no means borne out by
experience.

Even more impressive was a battle between two male Cuckoos. It occurred
high up in the air above the tops of some tall elm-trees which roughly
marked the boundary line between their respective areas, and the actions
of the birds were plainly visible. At the moment of actual collision
the opponents were generally in a vertical position, and wings, feet,
and beaks were made use of in turn; one could plainly see them strike at
one another with their feet,