8 BIRDS ON THE WESTERN 

 FRONT 



MY difficulty in collating the notes by 

 eye-witnesses regarding the behavi- 

 our of birds on the Western Front 

 has been great, owing to the various aspects 

 of bird life as seen by individual observers. 

 Some of these were trustworthy ornitholo- 

 gists and all were bird-lovers, but it was only 

 to be expected that most of them were inter- 

 ested in the species which they either saw 

 for the first time or which were of compara- 

 tive rarity in Great Britain. Thus, many of 

 the observations refer to such species as the 

 GOLDEN ORIOLE, CRESTED LARK, ICTERINE 

 WARBLER, and other birds not uncommon in 

 France and Flanders but rare in this country. 

 Some observers write of migration as far as 

 they could witness it in their prescribed 

 range of observation, and many more write 

 of the presence and daily habits of ROOKS, 



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