iSird Life In the Fir{]ii^ Line. ii7 



with frequenl snow storms, wliicli was not i^ood either for birds 

 or bird w atchiiii;'. AmonL; the lirst birds I saw were a thrush, 

 the onl\- one 1 have seen, a robin, to which the same remark 

 apphes, blackbirds, and starhni^s. and of course tlie ma,^pie. 

 1 sav " of course " l)ecause the ma.^i>ie is one of the commonest 

 birds abcnu. It would be \'ery easy to ,L;et a nestling;" and l^rini;- 

 it ui). but they are dirty l)irds, and as an M.( ). 1 ha\e to set an 

 example in sanitation, so, I fear, it is no i^ood. They olten build 

 \-ery nutch lower than they do in ]'",nL;iand. sometini -s not p;ore 

 than S feet from the ground. 



'idle first bird which w^as in the least out of the ordinary, 

 which 1 saw was a fine specimen of the .t^reen wood])ecker. 

 He was in a little copse by the ri\er. I saw him on the same day 

 as 1 saw the lirst of the, migrants, which was a pair of chiff- 

 chaffs. They were in the same coj)se. 



The fields beyond the river contained ])artrid,qes in lar.ge 

 numbers, and many kestrels, also skylarks and pipits, f have 

 foimd the nest of the former. The wheatears were also seen 

 there. 1 saw the owl, in broad dayli.ght. tiopi)in,L; about round an 

 apology for a hedge in one of the fields. I think it was a 

 tawny owl. btit I cannot be stu^e. as my horse suddenly 

 broke into a fast canter and demanded my full atention past 

 some old shell holes. The hooded crow I did not see i' 

 Peronne, but appropriately in most desolate country, 

 devastated in the push last autumn. The conniionest water 

 bird is the coot, which are to be seen in parties of twenty 

 or thirty. The dabchick was only seen once. The black 

 redstart was building, high up in a ruined house in Perotme. 

 The wdiole of one side and most of another had been blown 

 out and the birds were building- in a niche in one of the 

 ruined rooms. I could not actually see where, as I had no 

 glasses with me. Reed warblers are very conunon round Per- 

 ronne, with their funny mixture of song and croaks. Unfor- 

 tunately T left too early to find the nest ; the army has really no 

 consideration for a keen ornithologist ! It was the greater 

 reed warbler. 



I do not think I ought to leave out a few remarks about 

 the swallows, martins, and swifts. Last year you published an 

 article dealing with them, I fully bear out the opinions of the 



