Utility and Economy of Birds 



the men in charge of them were life-long 

 fanciers devoted to the work. In one of the 

 greatest battles, where PIGEONS were largely 

 used, 100 per cent, of the messages were 

 delivered under most difficult circumstances, 

 and it was stated authoritatively that thou- 

 sands of lives had been saved by PIGEONS 

 homing from seaplanes or mine-sweepers in 

 distress (Daily Mail, 22.iii.i8). Admiralty 

 records showed that 95 per cent, of the 

 several thousand PIGEONS employed in the 

 Naval Pigeon Service came through with 

 their messages(Z)fli/y Mail and Daily Chronicle, 

 7.v.i8). The PIGEONS of the Royal Air 

 Force, up till the end of 1918, had brought 

 no fewer than 717 messages of distress from 

 aircraft down on the surface of the water. 

 In carrying these messages the birds covered 

 an aggregate of 20,000 miles (Referee, 22.xii. 



18). 

 The Germans erected special gas-proof 



cotes for their PIGEONS and went so far as to 

 camouflage their birds by giving them a 

 coating of paint. A message taken from one 

 of these German PIGEONS pays our troops a 



16 



