Change of Habit due to War 



most of the large trees had been felled, nested 

 in quite small trees (Ibis, 1919, p. 59). 



It is certainly remarkable that the vibra- 

 tion of gunfire in the vicinity of nests con- 

 taining incubating eggs did not destroy 

 them, nor even affect the embryos or the 

 young when hatched. I have already men- 

 tioned the case of a BLACKBIRD which reared 

 its brood in a nest built in a hedge only 

 twenty yards from two 9' 2-inch guns. This 

 is by no means an isolated case, as reference 

 to the preceding notes will show. That any- 

 thing so sensitive as an embryonic chick 

 should have been able to sustain with im- 

 punity the near discharge of a big gun is 

 certainly unexpected, and Nature, in her far- 

 seeing wisdom, can scarcely have foreseen the 

 exigencies that would be required of her in 

 this the most terrific war of all time. 



The case of the BLACKCAP whose nest had 

 been blown sideways by shells and who laid 

 three pure white eggs in a second nest within 

 ten feet of the old one (Bird Notes and News, 

 vol. vii. p. i) is worthy of remark here, as it 

 is conceivable that this abnormally colourless 



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