Utility and Egonomy of Birds 
the men in charge of them were life-long 
fanciers devoted to the work. In one of the 
greatest battles, where PIGEONS were largely 
used, 100 per cent. of the messages were 
delivered under most difficult circumstances, 
and it was stated authoritatively that thou- 
sands of lives had been saved by PIGEONS 
homing from seaplanes or mine-sweepers in 
distress (Daily Maztl, 22.11.18). Admiralty 
records showed that 95 per cent. of the 
several thousand PIGEONS employed in the 
Naval Pigeon Service came through with 
their messages( Daily Mailand Datly Chromele, 
7.v.18). The Picrons of the Royal Air 
Force, up till the end of 1918, had brought 
no fewer than 717 messages of distress from 
aircraft down on the surface of the water. 
In carrying these messages the birds covered 
an aggregate of 20,000 miles (Referee, 22. xi. 
18). 
The Germans erected special gas-proof 
cotes for their PIGEONS and went so far as to 
camouflage their birds by giving them a 
coating of paint. A message taken from one 
of these German PIGEONS pays our troops a 
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