Utility and Economy of Birds 



Hundreds of " enemy " CANARIES were 

 killed by our shell and gas but those that 

 were rescued by our troops were, needless 

 to say, well cared for. A demonstration 

 of their utility was given to the members 

 of the Congress of South-Eastern Scientific 

 Societies on June ist, 1918, when a bird 

 in a cage was introduced into a chamber 

 full of poison-gas and became unconscious 

 before a human being, exposed to the same 

 conditions, showed any sign of being affected 

 (Sunday Herald, 2.vi.i8). This war-time 

 use of CANARIES may have been one of 

 the reasons which caused a CANARY boom 

 in America, where these birds are very 

 popular. Although double the pre-war price 

 would willingly have been paid, the birds 

 were unprocurable ; German-bred birds being 

 out of the market, and the majority of 

 the Norwich fanciers having joined the 

 colours, the demand proved far greater than 

 the supply (Daily Mail, 8.v.i6). 



It is horriblet othink of CANARIES being stifled 

 by poison-gas, and the following verses "To 

 a CANARY in a Trench " may here be quoted : 



24 



