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Hundreds of racing pigeons vanish in ’Bermuda triangle’ of birds 

◎陳成良

Pigeon racers are mystified after hundreds birds disappeared in an area they have now dubbed the Bermuda Triangle.

數百隻賽鴿（在英國上空）神秘失蹤之後，賽鴿手大惑不解，他們如今稱這個區域為「百慕達三角洲」。

Only 13 out of 232 birds released in Thirsk , North Yorkshire, on Saturday by a Scottish pigeon racing club made it back to Galashiels, Selkirkshire. It follows a summer on which hundred more have vanished in the same area.

一個蘇格蘭賽鴿俱樂部週六舉行比賽，232隻在北約克郡瑟斯克鎮放飛的賽鴿中，只有13隻按計畫抵達塞爾寇克郡的加拉希爾斯。此前，僅在今年夏天，該地區就有上百隻賽鴿失蹤。

Keith Simpson, of the East Cleveland Federation, said pigeon racers across the region had all suffered massive losses since the season started in April - with many losing more than half of their birds.

東克里夫蘭聯盟的凱斯．辛普森說，今年4月賽季開鑼以來，該地區各處的賽鴿手都蒙受重大損失，很多人的賽鴿損失過半。

Some fanciers are considering stopping flying the birds until they establish why so many failed to return.

一些參賽者正考慮，在他們弄清楚為何這麼多賽鴿未能回來之前，不再帶鴿子來參賽。

The loss of homing pigeons, which can be worth up to ￡200,000, has baffled experts, but the most popular theory is the abnormal number of summer showers, sending birds off course as they attempt to fly around the downpours.

遺失總價值高達20萬英鎊的信鴿，讓專家們感到困惑，但最流行的說法是，異常數量的夏季驟雨，讓賽鴿為了躲避暴雨而偏離了航向。

Unusually high levels of solar activity distorting magnetic fields and even signals from Menwith Hill spy base, near Harrogate , an electronic monitoring station, have also been blamed.

太陽活動異常升高使地球磁場發生扭曲，甚至是哈羅蓋特附近的一處電子監控站——曼威斯山情報基地發出的信號，也被認為與賽鴿失蹤有關。

新聞辭典

mystify︰動詞，意指使大感驚奇、大惑不解。形容詞為mystified。例句︰She had a mystified look on her face.（她的臉上有困惑的表情。）

off course：片語，偏離航線。例句：Strong cross-winds blew the aircraft off course. （強勁的側風把飛機吹得偏離了航線。）

baffle：動詞，使困惑、難住、阻撓。例句︰We have imaged that he will try all he can to baffle us.（我們早就料到他會使盡全力阻撓我們。）