"Displacement Reactions" in the Three-Spined Stickleback

Several observers of animal behaviour have called attention to the fact that an animal may, under certain conditions, perform quite movements. For instance, fighting domestic cocks go through the motions of picking up some food; fighting starlings preen their feathers, courting male birds of paradise wipe their bills, fighting avocets occasionally assume the sleeping attitude, etc. This phenomenon has been subjected to an analysis by KORTLANDT (I940) and by TINBERGEN (I939, I940). They showed that such movements occur when the animal is under the influence of a powerful urge, but at the same time is in ~'ome way prevented from expressing this urge in the appropriate way. The animal, under such conditions, does not suspend action, but vents its urge in movements belonging to another drive. The behaviour sparks over (MAKKINK, 1936) from one drive to another. Whereas a good name has been given to it in German which has been generally accepted (Ubersprunghandlung KORTLANDT, Ubersprungbewegung TINBERGEN), no suitable English term has been found HUXLEY'S term habit for preening in the great crested grebe (HUXLEY, 19I4) is to be rejected because the phenomenon has probably nothing to do with habit. Neitner sparking-over activity, nor sham activity (CARPENTER, 1934), nor substitute activity (KIRKMAN, 1937; TINBERGEN, I930) nor irrelevant movement (RAND, 1943) seeims to be entirely satisfactory. The Rev. E. A. ARMSTRONG suggested to one of us the name displaced reaction, which was changed by Prof. HUXLEY during a discussion on the subject into displacement reaction. This term is being adopted by Mr. ARMSTRONG in the forthcomning revised edition of