96 The Irish Nahiralist. July-Aug., 191 9. 



REVIEW. 



BIRD STUDIES IN WAR. 



Birds and the War. By Hugh S. Gladstone, M.A., F.R.S.E. 

 London : Skeffington and Son, 191 9. Pp. xviii. + 169. Price 5s. net. 



Lovers of birds should feel grateful to Mr. Gladstone for this interesting 

 account of the military activities of domestic birds and the response 

 of wild species to the terrifyingly abnormal war-conditions of the western 

 front. The work of homing pigeons for carrying messages was recognised 

 as valuable during the years of war, and the opening section of the book 

 gives some old and much new information on this subject. There is, 

 for example, a story of a pigeon, sent from the scene of an action near 

 Menin in October, 19 17, to divisional headquarters. This bird was 

 struck by a German bullet which broke a leg, denuding the shin-bone 

 of flesh and' driving the metal cylinder containing the message into the 

 body. Nevertheless the pigeon completed its nine-mile journey and 

 delivered its message the next morning, dying soon after its arrival. 

 Equally useful were the canaries kept in the trenches, which gave warning 

 of attacks by poison-gas, to the effects of which birds are far more 

 sensitive than human beings. 



The chapter on the behaviour of birds on the western front contains 

 many facts of interest to the naturalist. During the summer of 19 15 

 there were many species well represented in the battle-area, and " no- 

 man's land " was tenanted by thousands of nesting pairs " in spite of 

 the noise and all the dangers of artillery fire," and this abundance of 

 bird-life seems to have continued till the armistice. The adaptability 

 of breeding parents to noise is well illustrated by a story of a Blackbird 

 which " built its nest in the body of a field-gun which had not been fired 

 for four days, during which period the nest was made and three eggs were 

 laid. Thereafter the gun was fired daily, but the bird laid two more 

 eggs and continued to sit unconcernedly." The converse of this incident 

 is afforded by the observation that " when in November, 191 7, the bells 

 of St. Paul's (London) rang out a merry peal for the ' victory of the 

 tanks ' the pigeons in a startled flock rose fluttering in the air, whereas 

 in happier days when the ringing of the cathedral bells was a daily 

 occurrence the birds used to regard it with indifference." 



In his preface, the author expresses regret that he had not the 

 opportunity of " sifting and elaborating " the notes which he has worked 

 into the book. A critical enquirer might consider that some of the 

 stories culled from daily newspapers rest on somewhat slender evidence, 

 A daring speculation in which Mr. Gladstone indulges : " that birds 

 bred within the battle area and reared amongst all the turmoil of war 

 may have acquired an innate indifference to terrific noises which they 

 may impart to their progeny," is calculated to afford a mild mental shock 

 to students of inheritance. There are seventeen good photographic 

 illustrations in the volume. 



G. H. C. 



