Migration in War-time 



birds whose nests were usually situated in 

 localities affected by the War were perforce 

 compelled to abandon their homes and mi- 

 grate to other places, thus evoking an in- 

 creased flight of individual kinds of birds 

 to certain spots (Times, Literary Supplement, 

 2Q.vii.i6). 



In the autumn of 1914 large flocks of GULLS 

 were observed off Norfolk, flying in from the 

 North Sea in so wild and erratic a fashion as 

 to suggest that the explosions at sea had 

 disturbed them ; their appearance curiously 

 synchronised with reported sea-fights. Un- 

 usual flocks of STARLINGS were noticed in 

 Norfolk in September 1914, and their prema- 

 ture migration was attributed to the disturb- 

 ing factors of battle which had driven them 

 from the continental marshes (Zoologist, 1915, 

 p. 392). It was reported, in the summer of 

 1916, that thousands of small birds, appar- 

 ently scared many scores of miles from their 

 native homes, took refuge on American liners 

 (Times, 4.vii.i6); and the presence of a 

 STORK near Carnarvon in July elicited the 

 query as to whether this rare visitor had been 



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