BIRDS DISAPPEAR

Opotiki News, Volume III, Issue 323, 18 October 1940, Page 2

BIRDS DISAPPEAR

FORSAKE WAR ZONE GULLS GIVE RAID ALARM A London message states that since the aerial war over England began tens of thousands of birds have flown to quieter and safer places, and in somo south-east towns small birds, even the cheeky sparrows, are soldoni seen. One result has been the worst catterpillar -plague in years in the south-east, where allotment-holders who have been “digging for victory” are finding they have lost heavily. A bird watcher who Jives at Dover reports that gulls there begin to scream minutes before an air-raid alarm sounds. Another watcher on the south-east coast says that the gulls fly out to sea some thne before an alarm is heard, and do, not return until the all-clctir signal. People living near the Regent’s Park Zoo say that at night they hear the geese start an angry cackling before the sirens sound.