Effect of Captivity and Severe Weather 
Although the War accounted for many 
changes, it can hardly be accused of affecting 
our weather, though there are many persons 
who firmly believe that the intense gunfire 
often induced rain and caused cold winds. 
In south-east England the wetness was 
phenomenal during the War (Globe, 24.vii.18), 
and it is certainly remarkable that the 
meteorological conditions prevailing in Great 
Britain should have been so abnormal, as 
the following observations show: 1914—De- 
cember, wettest on record. 1915—January, 
severe floods; August, extraordinarily fre- 
quent thunderstorms, nine within eleven 
days; December, very wet and stormy, 
Ig16—January, mildest for half a century; 
March, severest for fifty-eight years, on 28th 
the greatest gale for a century ; August and 
September, wettest for thirteen years (Daily 
‘Mail, 16.iv.17). The winter of 1916-17 was 
the coldest experienced in many places for 
twenty-two years, and its effect on bird-life 
may be summed up in the words of the Anglo- 
Saxon Chronicle for the year 671: ‘“‘ This 
year was the great destruction of birds.” 
71 
