4 NOVEMBER 1932, Page 14

The only theory that has been put forward is that

the birds mistake the low hum of the wire for the note of an insect ! Now, some insects rejoice in telegraphic, if not in electric apparatus ; for the insulators on telegraph poles are a favourite refuge for the hibernating fly. Now and again these have been found choke-full of flies keeping one another warm (like the anthem of a snowdrop) in this bell. It is pos- sible that some inquisitive bird might discover this food- cache ; but that a perfectly good woodpecker should pene- trate the nasty creosote in order to discover a fly or moth somehow using its wings in the interior is hardly a reasonable explanation.