John Bull in his "Birds of New York State" has a section on migration of Redwing Blackbirds. I used this as a reference in a biology course I audited after retirement. Here is an excerpt from what I wrote: During the spring migration, 100,000 were recorded at Montezuma on March 22, 1958. In the early 1900's Arthur Allen kept a three year record of Red-wings migrating through Ithaca. From their plumage he was able to distinguish males from females and adult birds from those hatched the previous year. The record he reports is for 1911 and as he remarks the actual dates will vary from year to year, but the order in which the males and females, migrants and residents will remain. (I wonder if there has been any significant shift in the 80 years since Dr. Allen made his study.) Here is what he found: males arrive on the scene, followed two weeks later by the resident females. The migrants that appear are presumably on their way to Canada while the immature birds that will take up residence may have been searching for green pastures.

There were over 100 dead birds that dropped over in Geyserville, CA off the 1010 Freeway this past Saturday. There were also a rather large number of Rooks and Choughs over in Sweden that died.....not to mention the birds in Arkansas, Kentucky, Italy and the fish, crabs, etc. in various places around the world. All in clusters, all falling on or near or within two weeks of, the New Year. Scientists are saying that mass die-offs are very common in birds, especially in winter....as for the fish and sea-creatures, they're saying red tides are on the increase in those areas. So this is hard to pin point....and don't get me started on the conspiracy theorists....egads. Thank GOD He is Sovereign over *all* of it. (Colossians 1: 19-20)

here anyway the red wings build a nest close to the ground usually where there are many upright stems close to water. they weave between stems a large nest of fibers grass stems and soft bark and leaves and even strips of bark and then line the nest with dry grass. the males get very defensive when the female is nesting and will attack almost anything or anybody who gets close to the nest. here most of the females raise two broods from early spring to late spring the males after nesting season flock together and leave mid summer to fall for warmer climates. the females stay with the young ones till they can fly and take care of them selves.

Maybe it's the yob philistine in me or just plain literary indolence but the last thing I care about in novels is what label the critics (or readers for that matter) want to pin on a particular work. The only question I ask is does the tale hangs together well? I can accept fantasy,surrealism a little magic realism (whatever the hell that is), whatever - just so long as it feels right within the framework of the story. I guess this is purely an instinctual approach but my preferred one. I found Georgio's death one of the most affecting parts of BWW and it did not jar in the least. I do agree that Georgio's drowning diatribe against political,religious and military "F***heads" ruining a beautiful world represent pretty well a summary of deB's own views. I don't think in either novel he takes a particularly anti-Greek, anti- Italian or anti - Turk point of view or their converse. He does criticise unmercifully all their leaders however in all their incompetence, greed, sheer pig ignorance and self aggrandising madness. It is the ordinary people of all these nations that he admires and weeps at the travails visited upon them by their maniacal leaders. I read somewhere that deB said his preferred method of work was to show how the megalomaniacs chew up the societies the try to remake in their own twisted image. Above all this analysis and introspection both BWW and CCM are beautiful human works by a great writer. Larry