"new jar put out at breakfast, used by Rex alone. That jar was tossed in the yard and found by police. When Miss Marple and Inspector Neele discuss the case, he shares that information, and she asks him if he has asked about blackbirds, having seen the pattern of an old children's rhyme, Sing a Song of Sixpence. When he does, he learns of dead blackbirds on Rex's desk at home, a pie whose contents were removed and replaced with dead blackbirds, and from Lance, of the Blackbird Mine in Africa. The Blackbird Mine was suspected of having gold, found"
"Sing a Song of Sixpence ""Sing a Song of Sixpence"" is a well-known English nursery rhyme, perhaps originating in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 13191. The rhyme's origins are uncertain. References have been inferred in Shakespeare's ""Twelfth Night"" (c. 1602), (Act II, Scene iii), where Sir Toby Belch tells a clown: ""Come on; there is sixpence for you: let's have a song"" and in Beaumont and Fletcher's ""Bonduca"" (1614), which contains the line ""Whoa, here's a stir now! Sing a song o' sixpence!"" In the past it has often been attributed"
"from the juniper tree and a beautiful bird flies out. The bird visits the local townspeople and sings about its brutal murder in the hands of its stepmother. Captivated by its lullaby, a goldsmith, a shoemaker and a miller offer the bird a gold chain, a pair of red shoes and a millstone in return for the bird singing its song again. The bird returns home to give the gold chain to the husband while giving Marlinchen the red shoes. Meanwhile, the stepmother complains about the “raging fires within her arteries”, revealed to be the real cause of her anger"
"to pass through the little hole. In an aside, the narrator tells the reader that the couple had great quantities of nuts because they never lost them, noting that most squirrels lose half their nuts because they cannot remember where they buried them. Silvertail is the most forgetful of squirrels in the wood, and, while trying to find his nuts, digs up another squirrel's hoard. A commotion erupts among the nutting squirrels, and, as ill luck would have it, a flock of birds fly by singing ""Who's bin digging-up ""my"" nuts?"" and ""Little bit-a-bread and-""no""-cheese!"" One bird finds a perch"
"One for Sorrow (nursery rhyme) ""One for Sorrow"" is a traditional children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies one sees determines if one will have bad luck. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20096. There is considerable variation in the lyrics used. A common modern version follows: The rhyme has its origins in superstitions connected with magpies, considered a bird of ill omen in some cultures, and in Britain, at least as far back as the early sixteenth century. The rhyme was first recorded around 1780 in a note in"
"seeds. Outside the nesting season they often feed in small flocks. The male sings from a higher perch, such as a shrub or fencepost, which indicates his ownership of the nesting territory. The musical song begins with two pairs of repeated whistled notes and ends in a series of trills, somewhat similar to that of the song sparrow. This bird's numbers are declining in the eastern parts of its range due to habitat loss. Vesper sparrow The vesper sparrow (""Pooecetes gramineus"") is a medium-sized American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus ""Pooecetes"". Adults have light brown upperparts"
"""In Search of Sixpence."" ""Half a Sixpence"" is the title of the 1963 West End stage musical, and the subsequent 1967 musical film version, of H.G. Wells' novel ""Kipps."" ""I've Got Sixpence"" a traditional song, runs: The song dates from at least 1810. An elaborated version was published in 1941, words and music by Elton Box & Desmond Cox.: the singer tells the tale of spending twopence (per verse) until he has ""no-pence to send home to my wife – poor wife."" Some guitarists prefer the rigidity of a coin to the flexibility of a more traditional plastic plectrum. Most"
"another. Eventually, Petronius attempted to make it look as if the animals stuffed inside appeared to be alive. In Medieval Europe, the entremet, a between-courses dish, developed into a form of entertainment, which could include the presentation of a pie with live animals, such as doves and frogs, bursting out. Such spectacles were known as early as the 1400s and continued into the 18th century, when it was memorialized in the nursery rhyme ""Sing a Song of Sixpence,"" wherein live blackbirds are placed in a pie shell to be served for a king's feast. In 1626, the Duke and Duchess"
"endings began to be added from the middle of the 19th century. A common modern version is: The final line of the fourth verse is sometimes slightly varied, with nose ""pecked"" or ""nipped"" off. One of the following additional verses is often added to moderate the ending: or: Many interpretations have been placed on this rhyme. It is known that a 16th-century amusement was to place live birds in a pie, as a form of entremet. An Italian cookbook from 1549 (translated into English in 1598) contained such a recipe: ""to make pies so that birds may be alive in"
"Three Blind Mice ""Three Blind Mice"" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 3753. The modern words are: Published by Frederick Warne & Co., an illustrated children's book by John W. Ivimey entitled ""The Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice"", fleshes the mice out into mischievous characters who seek adventure, eventually being taken in by a farmer whose wife chases them from the house and into a bramble bush, which blinds them. Soon after, their tails are removed by ""the butcher's wife"" when the complete version incorporates the original"
"his reputation for miserliness was enhanced by the diminution of the crown's charity work after the queen's death. He was buried with Elizabeth of York under their effigies in his Westminster Abbey chapel. Her tomb was opened in the 19th century and the wood casing of her lead coffin was found to have been removed to create space for the interment of her great-great-grandson James VI and I. According to folklore, the ""queen ... in the parlour"" in the children's nursery rhyme ""Sing a Song of Sixpence"" is Elizabeth of York, while her husband is the king counting his money."
"to seven syllables, each composed of one low and one high note, while the juniper titmouse song consists of a series of rapid syllables on the same note. Ranges overlap only in a small area in California. The tufted titmouse, which does not overlap in range, has whiter belly, rusty flanks, and black on the forehead. Juniper titmouse The juniper titmouse (""Baeolophus ridgwayi"") is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. The American Ornithologists' Union split the plain titmouse into the oak titmouse and the juniper titmouse in 1996, due to distinct differences in song, preferred habitat, and genetic"
"passerine bird, similar to a small reed bunting. It has a small seed-eater's bill. The male has a black head and throat, white neck collar and underparts, and a heavily streaked grey back (reed bunting has a browner back). The female is much duller, with a streaked brown head. It is less streaked below than female reed bunting. The song of the male is a repetitive ""sherp"". Its natural food consists of insects when feeding young, and otherwise seeds. The nest is in a bush. 2-5 eggs are laid, which show the hair-like markings characteristic of those of buntings. The"
"series of sputtering notes, slowly descending and becoming less rapid and fading away at the conclusion. It is often sung from a perch near the bird's nest, or even from within this conspicuous structure which is globular, with a side entrance, and is made of sticks. This bird feeds, often in pairs, on small invertebrates which it finds when foraging on the ground in the leaf litter or in the low branches of trees and shrubs. The necklaced spinetail is a fairly common bird within its rather restricted range. The total number of birds has not been estimated but the"
"May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose ""May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose"" is a 1965 novelty song performed by Little Jimmy Dickens. It was Dickens' most successful single on the U.S. country music chart. It spent two weeks at No. 1 that November, and stayed on the chart for a total of 18 weeks. On the overall ""Billboard"" Hot 100 the song peaked at No. 15. The song, written by Neal Merritt, was inspired by one of the many comic putdowns uttered by host Johnny Carson on ""The Tonight Show"". The song features three"
"the rulers and their courtiers to stage elaborate feasts where the attraction was as much the entertainment provided by musicians, comedians, jugglers and acrobats as the food itself. Sometimes the two were combined. Around 1630, at a dinner attended by Charles I, a huge game pie was placed on the table. But when the crust was removed, a dwarf armed with sword and buckler sprang from the coffin. On another occasion, the king was served a surprise pie containing live birds, perhaps the origin of the rhyme ""Sing a Song of Sixpence"". The game pies of that period were sweeter"
"A Wise Old Owl ""A Wise Old Owl"" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7734 and in The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, 2nd Ed. of 1997, as number 394. The rhyme is an improvement of a traditional nursery rhyme ""There was an owl lived in an oak, wisky, wasky, weedle."" <poem>A wise old owl lived in an oak The more he saw the less he spoke The less he spoke the more he heard. Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?</poem> This version was first published in"
"is a raspy trill, almost a mechanical sound. It may be given in flight during the nesting season. The sound has been likened to a drop of water hitting a hot fry pan. Nelson's sparrow Nelson's sparrow (""Ammodramus nelsoni"") is a small American sparrow. This bird was named after Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist. Formerly, this bird and the saltmarsh sparrow were considered to be a single species, the sharp-tailed sparrow; because of this it was briefly known as Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow. Adults have brownish upperparts with gray on the crown and nape, a cream-colored breast with light or"
"a red underwing in flight. The mistle thrush (""T. viscivorus"") is much larger and has white tail corners, and the Chinese thrush (""T. mupinensis""), although much more similar in plumage, has black face markings and does not overlap in range. The song thrush has a short, sharp ""tsip"" call, replaced on migration by a thin high ""seep"", similar to the redwing's call but shorter. The alarm call is a ""chook-chook"" becoming shorter and more strident with increasing danger. The male's song, given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches, is a loud clear run of musical phrases, repeated two to"
"free in the woods. The bird is intercepted by Number Two's forces, and Two sees that the message states that Six will send a visual signal the next morning. Six goes to the beach and sends a visual signal (in light-flash Morse code) — a nursery rhyme with no apparent hidden meaning, all witnessed by Two. Later, Number Six is able to trick Number Two into believing that Number Fourteen is conspiring against him. When the other keepers of the village cannot discern the hidden meaning in Number Six's messages, Number Two suspects everyone working for him of being part"
"Shrikethrush A shrikethrush, also spelt shrike-thrush, is any one of five species of songbird that is a member of the genus Colluricincla. They have nondescript, predominantly brown or grey, plumage, but are accomplished singers, their calls described as ""strong, mellow and beautiful."" Shrikethrushes are generally insectivorous, though have been recorded eating molluscs and berries. They build cup-shaped nests in the forks of trees. Nicholas Aylward Vigors and Thomas Horsfield described the genus in 1827, coining the genus name from the Ancient Greek words ""collurio"" ""shrike"" and ""cinclos"" ""thrush"". Noting the beak, they thought it related to shrikes or vangas, though"
"for devil's own sell."" The opening two-part episode of the 2015 season of ""Lewis"" was titled ""One for Sorrow"", and involved a stuffed magpie. Two versions of the rhyme play an important part in Terry Pratchett's novel ""Carpe Jugulum"" (1998), where magpies are considered the eyes of the cunning vampire Count Magpyr. The lyrics to this poem can be found in the artwork, A Flock of Words in Morecambe, amongst other poems about birds. Lyrics from the rhyme are mentioned in Corinne Bailey Rae's song ""Choux Pastry Heart"", from her self-titled debut album, released in 2006. The anthology ""Charmed Destinies"""
"Oxe his hide; he is in fashion like a great Fly, and forces the beasts for fear of him only to stand up to the belly in water, or else to betake themselves to wood sides, cool shades, and places where the wind blowes through."" The ""Blue Tail Fly"" in the eponymous song was probably the mourning horsefly (""Tabanus atratus""), a tabanid with a blue-black abdomen common to the southeastern United States. Mosquitoes have been part of oral lore, and even of told jokes, and from folklore pronouncing the origin of the mosquito, and depicting its relation to a ""blood-sucking"
"Listen to the Mocking Bird ""Listen to the Mocking Bird"" (1855) is an American popular song of the mid-19th century. Its lyrics were composed by Septimus Winner under the pseudonym ""Alice Hawthorne"", and its music was by Richard Milburn. It relates the story of a singer dreaming of his sweetheart, now dead and buried, and a mockingbird, whose song the couple once enjoyed, now singing over her grave. Yet the melody is moderately lively. ""Listen to the Mocking Bird"" was one of the most popular ballads of the era and sold more than twenty million copies of sheet music. It"
"are slight, with the central population essentially have richer chestnut brown and darker grey colours. Its relative, the yellow-eyed babbler (""C. sinense""), looks like a brighter version of the same but has somewhat more vivid colors, with white replacing grey in the plumage, an additional white supercilium, yellowish legs, feet and irides, and an orange-yellow eye-ring. The song is a weak 4- to 8-note warbling ""chi-chi-chi-chew-chew-chew"", ""tew-tew-tew-tew chew"" or ""ih-ih-ih-ih chew chitit chew i'wwiuu"", with a drawn-out end note and sometimes starting with a chatter of ""itch, itit"" or ""tchew"". Birds sing usually in the early morning and in the"
"cup nest in a tree. The white-spotted fantail is insectivorous, and often fans its tail as it moves through the undergrowth. Not normally renowned as a songster, the male uses a fixed and unmistakable pattern of musical notes in its call. The notes are loud and normally divided into two stanzas – the first with 5–6 trilling notes rising and falling, followed by 4–5 notes rising up the scale and ending in the highest note. Birds use the same song year after year, with progressively small changes, with the result that the song sounds very different after 4–5 years. The"
"and each side of the forehead, and a white throat which is often puffed up when the bird is excited. The upperparts are dark olive, with darker wings. The white central breast is separated from the white throat by a black band. The breast sides are grey, and the flanks and lower belly are olive-green. Young birds have a sooty-brown cap, sooty face and olive-brown upperparts, throat and breast. The chestnut-capped brush finch has a thin ""pink"" call and a very high-pitched ""psssst"". The male’s song consists of a mixture of whistles and sharper notes. The chestnut-capped brush finch feeds"
"grey breast. The flight is parrot-like. Several subspecies have been described, but there is extensive individual variation in plumage. Although birds in the north of the range are larger than in the south, the difference is clinal and the northern white-crowned shrike may be monotypic. The calls are high-pitched squawks, squeaks and chatters, including ""kek-kek"" and ""chee-chee"". The northern white-crowned shrike is gregarious, occurring in groups of up 12 birds. It hunts from an exposed perch, feeding mainly on large insects, usually taken from the ground. It also will feed from the backs of large mammals, like an oxpecker, and"
"verses, each of which mentions an incident where Dickens (the narrator) acts in a cheap and/or rude manner that insults the other person: The chorus is an insult, said back to Dickens, for his cheapness. The distinctive guitar work was done by Grady Martin, using the brand new Echoplex unit which had just been released. May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose ""May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose"" is a 1965 novelty song performed by Little Jimmy Dickens. It was Dickens' most successful single on the U.S. country music chart. It spent two weeks at"
"the eastern parts of its range. The nest is a well-concealed shallow open cup on the ground under vegetation. These birds migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, and northern Central America; they are passage migrants over much of the United States, except in the west. They forage on the ground in dense vegetation, mainly eating insects and seeds. They are very secretive. Their song is a musical trill, but this bird is often not seen or heard even where they are common. This bird was named by Audubon after his friend, Thomas Lincoln, of Dennysville, Maine. Lincoln shot the"
"the twenty-third one, a man (and one's father) named Dwight, outside at night, looks at some birds with a Bright Dwight Bird Flight Night Sight Light on his head which is his Christmas gift, also. In the twenty-fourth one, a blonde girl brings her father a walrus which is a bad and worse pet even yet. The walrus with his tough, rough, wet whiskers whispers something to his ear which really burns red hot. In the twenty-fifth and final one, Hooey, walking tired and depressed and losing a few feathers, declares that's almost enough of those silly tongue twisters for"
"fleshy cones of the juniper bush, and the solitary birds form territories around productive juniper patches which they strongly defend Its song consists of loud, melodious flute-like rising and falling phrases with ""low, husky notes interspersed but no distinct pattern"" and ""a slightly mechanical quality."" The call is a squeaky ""eeek"" or ""clear, soft whistle ""heeh"""". The nest resembles that of other solitaires: a cup of fine plant material on or close to the ground. Townsend's solitaire usually lays three or four eggs that are grayish-white with brown dots or splotches concentrated at the larger end. The name of this"
"the ""talking"" parrot (aided by Echo's ventriloquism) he bought will not speak. When ""Granny"" O'Grady visits him to coax the bird into performing, ""she"" takes along grandson ""Little Willie"". While there, they learn that a valuable ruby necklace is in the house. They decide to steal it that night. As Echo is too busy, the other two grow impatient and decide to go ahead without him. The next day, Echo is furious to read in the newspaper that Arlington was killed and his three-year-old daughter badly injured in the robbery. Hercules shows no remorse whatsoever, relating how Arlington pleaded for"