528 Lieut. J. N. Kennedy on [Ibis, 



during the heavy fighting, the villages being levelled, the 

 trees shattered, and the ground itself so torn up by shells 

 that there scarcely remained a single blade of grass. 

 Leaving this belt of desolation behind when the enemy 

 began his retreat, we emerged at Irles into clean country 

 once more, and on the Bapaume plateau the avifauna was 

 comparatively normal. 



It is not open to doubt that the fighting which took place 

 here had the effect of banishing many species which should 

 ordinarily have been encountered. Many statements have 

 been made on this subject which might lead one to believe 

 that the birds were absolutely unaffected by war conditions. 

 This I admit was the case before July 1916, and is still 

 true of quiet parts of the line. Until the fall of Beaumont- 

 Hamel, bird-life, so far as an observer previously unacquainted 

 with the region can judge, was almost normal in the artillery 

 ai'ea and up to within a short distance of the trenches, 

 especially in the marshes near the river, where many shy 

 species, such as the Water-Rail and Little Grebe, were 

 found right up to the front line. After the beginning of 

 our advance, birds were very scarce where the fighting had 

 taken place. Kestrels were most tenacious of their hunting- 

 grounds, and an individual of this species might often be 

 seen over the trenches even during operations. After the 

 Kestrels, the Carrion Crows, Magpies, House-Sparrows, 

 Skylarks, and Partridges were usually the first to return. 



The winter was colder and wetter than usual on the 

 whole, and, during January and February, there was a 

 period of over three weeks continuous hard frost which 

 reduced the birds, especially the waterfowl, to great distress. 

 During this spell of hard weather there appeared several 

 species which had not been previously observed, among them 

 the Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Great Grey Shrike, and Black 

 Redstart. 



Corvus corone. Carrion Crow. 



During the winter the Carrion Crow was frequently met 

 with. Some half dozen of these birds haunted the Ancre 

 marshes below Thiepval when the front line was 2000 yards 



