Birds as Messengers 



Arras, on August gth, 1918, was presented to 

 the Zoological Society of London in October. 

 The two Germans in charge of the loft at- 

 tempted, on the near approach of the Cana- 

 dians, to burn it, but our men quickly de- 

 spatched the Germans and extinguished the 

 flames. The marks of the fire, however, 

 remain, and several bullet-holes maybe seen 

 penetrating the outside frame of the loft 

 (Times, 2.xi.i8). 



In March 1918, when every one was invited 

 to invest their money in War Bonds, an addi- 

 tional attraction was afforded by the Pigeon 

 Post Service which carried messages from 

 the investor's home to the Tank Bank in 

 Trafalgar Square, notifying the amount of 

 the investment. Queen Alexandra's PIGEON 

 attracted a crowd of people to the mobile loft 

 when the bird arrived, within at minute, from 

 Marlborough House with the announcement 

 that Her Majesty wished to purchase 500 

 War Savings Certificates on behalf of the 

 Queen Alexandra League (Globe, 4.iii.i8). 

 In America the HOMER was likened to "the 

 DOVE sent out from the Ark of Noah which 



