Behaviour of Birds 
Crows, MAGPIES, Hfwks, SPARROWS, and 
other birds common alike to us and our 
European Allies. To compile a catalogue of 
the lists of birds recorded at the front would 
serve no useful purpose here, and it has been 
my endeavour only to draw attention to any 
change of habit, peculiar trait, or extra- 
ordinary behaviour noticed among birds, as 
attributable in any way to the War. More- 
over, such observations as are at my disposal 
are derived from reports by soldiers confined 
perforce to but a very limited portion of the 
front held by the British troops, so that a bird, 
described as common in one part of the line, 
might be rare in another. 
It is difficult to sum up the effect of the 
battle onthe Western Front on birds. Though 
bird life has been described as almost normal 
in the artillery area and up to within a short 
distance of the trenches, many species must 
have been banished from areas which had 
been devastated by the effects of shell fire 
(Ibis, 1917, p. 528). Very few of the familiar 
garden birds still clung to the flattened vil- 
lages, and the HousE SPARROW seemed to be 
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