Utility and Economy of Birds 



" one of our most precious auxiliaries, who 

 had at all times indicated to our fishermen 

 the presence of shoals of fish, and who, when 

 our boats and their crews were mobilised and 

 fished for mines and submarines, imitated 

 them and continued their service of intelli- 

 gence " (Bulletin de la S.F.P.O., Juin 1918). 

 A pilot reported that while in the Channel 

 on January 5th, 1918,! he noticed some SEA- 

 GULLS sitting upon a floating object. Upon 

 closer investigation he saw it was a mine with 

 five prongs. On top of each prong was 

 perched a SEA-GULL. He just had time to 

 alter the ship's course slightly and thus 

 averted disaster (Observer, 6.1 .18). A some- 

 what similar story is told by an officer on 

 board a ship in the North Sea : ''While watch- 

 ing a PUFFIN through my glasses, I suddenly 

 saw the periscope of a German submarine 

 appear above the water close to the bird. 

 We altered our course just in time to evade, 

 by a few feet, two torpedoes which were fired 

 at us. We tried to ram the submarine, but 

 unfortunately she dived too quickly " (Ibis, 

 1917, p. 34), The fact that SEA-GULLS were 



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