WILD BIRDS IN THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 249, 15 July 1919, Page 6

WILD BIRDS IN THE WAR

Some observations on the effects of the war on rare bird life in tho British Isles appear in the spring number of "Bird Notes anil News. '. It appears 'hat, on the whole, military conditions have not affected these birds adversely, except as regards the commandeering of commons and other stretches of wild country for camps In areas specially protected by the witchera of the Koyal Society for the Protection of Birds thero has been a compensating absence of "troublesome human visitors" in tho form of trippers and collectors, aik! the n&vnl and niilitnrv authorities have given help in restrainins the men under,their command The collection of gulls' eggs for human fnod. however, led m some districts to a raid on seabirds' eggs in genera!. Tho Kentish plover at Dungeness, the choughs at Tintngel, and phalaropes in Orkney have dono especially well; and tho nesting of ravens inland in Somerset after an interval of twelve years.is attributed to tho protection the.v receive at tho society's sanctuary at Brenn Down One loss during the war is Hint of tho last of tin wlutc-tailed Shetland sea eagles, which after many years of solitude has probably died from old ace. She had outlived her mate for eight years, and grown quite whito; hut for several years after tho disappearance of Ihe male bird-probably shot in some unprotected area—she haunted the old nest and watched and waited.