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Bird - Lore 



FEATHERED ALLIES 



With the first call for fighters there also came a call for 'messengers,' and 

 so it was that our faithful little aUies — soft-feathered Homing Pigeons were 

 taken into service. Today we may see many of them returning from service 

 overseas, bearing that same mark of honor which distinguishes our men-heroes, 

 for each bird now wears around its leg a gold band for every wound received. 



The Navy has a number of these brave birds which suffered wounds, but 

 which have been tenderly nursed back to health and strength and are now find- 

 ing a life of comfort in the country they so faithfully served. 



Truly these birds have proved faithful allies to America. But the Homing 

 Pigeons alone do not constitute this allied force. The little feathered sharers 



THESE JUNIORS OF HIGH BRIDGE, X. J.. HA\I. MM I 



OUR FEATHERED ALLIF^ 

 Photographed by the American Red Cross 



of our everyday life, the chattering little birds of our busy cities, and the sweet- 

 throated songsters of the woodland places have served us at home as faithfully 

 as those other strong-winged Pigeons served us overseas. 



The 'home-force' birds, as we might call them, have hunted out the poison- 

 ous little insects that would destroy our valued trees; they have served us in 

 all the ways that birds are known to serve our world of living things ; and more 

 than this, they have cheered us with their trills and songs, and even their noisy 

 morning chatter. 



Many of us are heedless of the bird-needs of these feathered folk, but some 

 of us have remembered. Among those who have remembered materially are 

 the Juniors of the American Red Cross. With their strong spirit of service for 

 all who need, they have not forgotten the birds. And so, through all parts of 



