Birds on the Western Front 
seen rising in a body whenever a shell struck 
the roof on which they were perching (Land 
and Water, 14.1X.16), 
MARTINS and SWALLows flew over and 
about the trenches even when the Maxims 
were rattling away, scattering their deadly 
shower of bullets (Scotsman, 11.vili.17). 
Quite a hundred HOUSE-MARTINS and SWAL- 
Lows used to circle, in the spring of 1918, 
around the cathedral and adjacent church 
tower of Ypres. These were daily shelled 
and hit ; none the less, nest building went on 
with patience and perseverance, the neces- 
sary mud being obtained from very old shell- 
holes and the canal banks (Observer, 5.1.19). 
At one part of the line HOUSE-MARTINS de- 
lighted to build their nests under the cornice, 
decorated with cupids and flowers, surround- 
ing a wall that was once part of the ballroom 
of an historic chateau (Scotsman, 16.vi. 
17). 
A SAND-MARTIN’S nest, full of young birds, 
was found on the exposed side of a German 
trench captured in July 1918; the parent 
birds, though they had survived a long and 
119g 
