ii8 f^ird Life In the Firing Line. 



writer, whose name I unfortunately for,i;et. The swallows and 

 n'.arlins make the fullest use of the nestiuij^ places afforded by 

 the ruins and are very numerous indeed. They are very tame 

 and come into such houses as are left, and build there freely. 

 In the mess-room, (a fonuer stable) of some officers, whom 1 

 visit daily, there are four ]>airs of swallows in various stag'es of 

 buildini,^ and sitting. They pay no attention at all to people 

 cominj^' in and out; the room is. of course, used in the evenini:;'. 

 This morniuti^. however, I am told one family took it into their 

 heads to throw out their ei^i^s. Unfortunately it was the nest 

 aboxe the breakfast table, the time breakfast and the eg'gs hard 

 set! It could not have been any disturbance as they promptly 

 hei^an to nest a.^^^ain. This, unfortunately, is common enou.^h 

 in the aviary but I have not heard of it before with birds at 

 liberty. .Swifts were conuiion in Peronne but not here, where 

 there are no tall buildings. 



I am attached to the Divisional R.E. and in one of the field 

 companies are two members of the k'.B.C. Messrs. Henderson 

 and Bassett. of Tonbridge. I am glad to say that they are both 

 fit and well. We talk " bird " together vigorously. The sergt. 

 major of another company is a keen naturalist both with re- 

 gard to birds and butterflies and moths. He showed me the 

 nest of a garden warbler, containing two eggs, also the bird 

 oi'iv this morning, nnd the rest and eg;.;-; of a common redstart 

 in the wall of his billet. So T am among congenial people. 



I am sorry to have to state that E. P. Card, who used to 

 look after our birds at Braml)lehurst. died as a prisoner of war 

 during the winter. In the following list of birds wdiich I have 

 seen, those marked (*) at Peronne and elsewhere, and the few 

 marked (I) were seen by other reliable oljservants. 



Ke.'^tre' Wren 



Lesser Kestrel F^edsje ."Sparrow 



Crow W'heatear 



•Hooded Crow Willow Wren 



Magpie. Chiff Chaff 



Jay. I'haffinch 



Owl. Tawny .skylark 



Coot \\'hitethroat 



Moorhen *(]ardcn Warbler 



Dabcliick Rood \\'ar!)ler 



Wild Duck Yellow Hammer 



