Change of Habit due to War 
most of the large trees had been felled, nested 
in quite small trees ([b7s, 1919, p. 59). 
It is certainly remarkable that the vibra- 
tion of gunfire in the vicinity of nests con- 
taining incubating eggs did not destroy 
them, nor even affect the embryos or the 
young when hatched. I have already men- 
tioned the case of a BLACKBIRD which reared 
its brood in a nest built in a hedge only 
twenty yards from two 9’2-inch guns. This 
is by no means an isolated case, as reference 
to the preceding notes will show. That any- 
thing so sensitive as an embryonic chick 
should have been able to sustain with im- 
punity the near discharge of a big gun is 
certainly unexpected, and Nature, in her far- 
seeing wisdom, can scarcely have foreseen the 
exigencies that would be required of her in 
this the most terrific war of all time. 
The case of the BLAcKCAP whose nest had 
been blown sideways by shells and who laid 
three pure white eggs in a second nest within 
ten feet of the old one (Bird Notes and News, 
vol, vil. p. 1) is worthy of remark here, as it 
is conceivable that this abnormally colourless 
155 
