Birds on the Western Front 



to a river, they appeared very much alarmed 

 for an hour or more (Field, 2O.X.I7). 



The SWANS of Ypres were well known to 

 practically nearly every battalion which 

 tasted the fighting in the Ypres salient. In 

 June 1915 the shelling of this area was par- 

 ticularly severe, but the small family of 

 SWANS, which lived in the moat below the 

 ramparts of the stricken city, glided placidly 

 on the water and survived this and the 

 terrible bombardments of the subsequent 

 three years. Great was the excitement among 

 our troops when, in 1917, the SWANS began 

 nesting operations. On one occasion a Ger- 

 man shell fell within a short distance of the 

 nest, but the bird which was then sitting 

 took no notice, except that, for a moment, 

 she fluttered from the concussion. The tri- 

 umph of the parent birds came when, during 

 the fearful fighting of the third battle for the 

 city, two cygnets were hatched (Daily Mail, 



22.V.I8). 



A WOODPIGEON nested in a thorn bush 

 between our front trenches and enemy 

 territory. The thistle-choked valley in which 



127 



