Effect of War on Birds 



dinavia and Holland, who used to fly by way 

 of the Aisne and the mud lakes of Cham- 

 pagne, now make a long round by sea and 

 do not touch land until they arrive off the 

 coast of Brittany. SNIPE from Russia and 

 Poland wing their way for sunny climes by 

 way of the western coast of the Black Sea to 

 gain the Bosphorus, or else cross Greece and 

 Roumania. German and Danish SNIPE go 

 south by way of Italy, and the THRUSHES 

 escape the shrapnel of the front in France 

 by crossing Switzerland and making for 

 Italy. The WILD DUCKS of the eastern 

 counties of England, which used to fly over 

 the North Sea, have also a horror of battles, 

 and now fly north, then west, and then south 

 again, skirting the coast of Ireland. The 

 calendar of the migrations, which for thou- 

 sands of generations has been rigorously 

 kept, has since the war become more elastic, 

 and some birds, such as the MARTINS, have 

 renounced their return journey to the north 

 and remain in Tunis rearing their young " 

 (Daily Express, 22.iv.i6). 



Another French zoologist, M. Cunisset- 

 144 



