Birds on the Western Front 
to ariver, they appeared very much alarmed 
for an hour or more (Field, 20.x.17). 
The Swans of Ypres were well known to 
practically nearly every battalion which 
tasted the fighting in the Ypres salient. In 
June 1915 the shelling of this area was par- 
ticularly severe, but the small family of 
SWANS, which lived in the moat below the 
ramparts of the stricken city, glided placidly 
on the water and survived this and the 
terrible bombardments of the subsequent 
three years. Great wasthe excitement among 
our troops when, in 1917, the SWANs began 
nesting operations. On one occasion a Ger- 
man shell fell within a short distance of the 
nest, but the bird which was then sitting 
took no notice, except that, for a moment, 
she fluttered from the concussion. The tri- 
umph of the parent birds came when, during 
the fearful fighting of the third battle for the 
city, two cygnets were hatched (Daily Mail, 
S23 V 18). 
A WOooDPIGEON nested in a thorn bush 
between our front trenches and enemy 
territory. The thistle-choked valley in which 
127 
