From the archives | 26 February 2015

From The Spectator, 27 February 1915: Observers of birds have been much interested by the evidence, which seems to be fairly satisfactory, that pheasants in as remote a part of England as Westmorland were disturbed by the firing in the North Sea on the day of Sir David Beatty’s action and showed many signs of excitement. The first evidence came from the Revd W.M.L. Evans, of Busby, Lincolnshire, who related in a letter to the Times how on Sunday morning his clerk met him with the announcement ‘There be rare goings-on in the North Sea the morn.’ When asked to explain the clerk said ‘The pheasants is all over the place with their fuss’; and many other villagers confirmed this statement.

Possibly there may be even better animal sentinels than birds and dogs — if only we knew! Imagination is tempted to take a long flight — are fish sensitive to the movements of submarines?