ally rises and attacks with wings and beak, and drives its
rival back again beyond the boundary. Thereupon its attitude undergoes a
remarkable change; ceasing to attack, but remaining standing for a few
moments as if still keeping guard, it betrays no further interest in the
bird with which a few seconds previously it was fighting furiously. On
one occasion I watched a trespasser settle upon a conspicuous clump of
rushes situated near the boundary. The owner, who was at the moment some
distance away, approached in the usual manner, and, having driven off
the trespasser, returned immediately to the clump, where it remained
erect and motionless.

A feature which marks all the fighting, and which we cannot afford to
disregard, is the conative aspect of the behaviour of the owner of the
territory. The bird attacks with apparent deliberation _as if_ it were
striving to attain some definite end. I recollect an incident which was
interesting from this point of view. A pair of Reed-Buntings were
disturbed by a Weasel which had approached their nest containing young.
Both birds betrayed symptoms of excitement; as the Weasel threaded its
way amongst the rushes, so they fluttered from clump to clump or clung
to the stems, uttering a note which is peculiar to times of distress,
and followed it thus until finally it disappeared in a hedge. The
rapidly uttered note and the excitement of the birds caused some
commotion, and the male from an adjoining territory approached the
scene. Now one would have expected that the presence of this bird, and
possibly its aid in driving away a common enemy, would have been
welcomed; one would have thought that all else would have been
subservient to the common danger, and that so real a menace to the
offspring would have evoked an impulse in the parent powerful enough to
dominate the situation and subordinate all the activities of the bird to
the attainment of its end. But what happened? Three times during this
incident, the male, whose young were in danger, abandoned the pursuit of
the Weasel and pursued the intruder. It was not merely that he objected
to the presence of this neighbouring male in a passive way, nor even
that he had a momentary skirmish with it, but that he determinedly drove
the intruder beyond the boundary and only then returned to harass the
Weasel.

Thus it seems clear that the proximate end to which the fighting is
directed is not necessarily the defeat of the intruder, but it