The Butcherbird Stories

The Butcherbird Stories

Author: A.S. Patric

Publisher: Transit Lounge

Published: 2018-11-01

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 1925760219

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Eleven stories. Each like a matchstick struck to illuminate the darkness. Evocations of place ranging from a Bangla jungle to the deep, blue Danube to a winter beach in Melbourne excite and seduce. But what truly draws the reader in are the unexpected landscapes of people's lives, explored with rare sensitivity, grace and a fearless truthfulness. A lonely St Kilda chef invites a beautiful busker to use his spare room. A father sings a lullaby to comfort his young daughter who has woken from a nightmare. A taxi driver picks up an old-world gentleman who is reluctant to disclose his destination. A young immigrant boy growing up in the western suburbs of Melbourne daydreams of infinite possibility. Death, loneliness, passion and belief: Patrić takes on the big questions in life and writes about the small people of the world with stylistic verve and deep humanity. This collection of stories reveals the author, best known for his award-winning novels, as a true master of the short story form. ‘One of the most interesting and valuable writers working in Australia today.’ — The Australian


Butcher Bird

Butcher Bird

Author: Richard Kadrey

Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand

Published: 2023-01-05

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 2322469076

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Spyder Lee is a happy man who lives in San Francisco and owns a tattoo shop. One night an angry demon tries to bite his head off before he's saved by a stranger. The demon infected Spyder with something awful - the truth. He can suddenly see the world as it really is: full of angels and demons and monsters and monster-hunters. A world full of black magic and mysteries. These are the Dominions, parallel worlds full of wonder, beauty and horror. The Black Clerks, infinitely old and infinitely powerful beings whose job it is to keep the Dominions in balance, seem to have new interests and a whole new agenda. Dropped into the middle of a conflict between the Black Clerks and other forces he doesn't fully understand, Spyder finds himself looking for a magic book with the blind swordswoman who saved him. Their journey will take them from deserts to lush palaces, to underground caverns, to the heart of Hell itself.


Butcherbird

Butcherbird

Author: Cassie Hart

Publisher: Huia Pub.

Published: 2021-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781775506324

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"Jena's life changed almost twenty years ago. The night her family burned. The night the birds came. Now, her grandmother, Rose, is dying, and Jena is finally being allowed back onto the property. She has one last chance to get to the bottom of the mystery that shrouded that night and tarnished her whole life. If she can't find the answers now, she may never know peace. As Jena searches for the truth, she unearths family secrets, and she also learns about all the ways they can come back to haunt you"--Publisher information.


International Wildlife Encyclopedia

International Wildlife Encyclopedia

Author: Maurice Burton

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 9780761472698

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This twenty-two volume set presents the appearance and behavior of thousands of species of animals along with species population and prospects for survival in a arranged alphabetically and easy-to-read format.


The Butcher Bird

The Butcher Bird

Author: S. D. Sykes

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2016-04-15

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1681771195

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In the sequel to the critically acclaimed Plague Land, we return to Somershill Manor, where an ominous legend takes hold of hearts and minds as children begin to disappear. Oswald de Lacy is growing up fast in his new position as Lord of Somershill Manor. However, there is still the same amount of work to be done in the farms and fields, and the few people left to do it think they should be paid more—something the King himself has forbidden. Just as anger begins to spread, the story of the Butcher Bird takes flight. People claim to have witnessed a huge creature in the skies. A new-born baby is found impaled on a thorn bush. And then more children disappear. Convinced the bird is just a superstitious rumor, Oswald must discover what is really happening. He can expect no help from his snobbish mother and his scheming sister Clemence, who is determined to protect her own child, but happy to neglect her step-daughters. From the plague-ruined villages of Kent to the thief-infested streets of London and the luxurious bedchamber of a bewitching lady, Oswald's journey is full of danger, dark intrigue, and shocking revelations.


Where Song Began

Where Song Began

Author: Tim Low

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2016-09-27

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 0300226802

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An authoritative and entertaining exploration of Australia’s distinctive birds and their unheralded role in global evolution Renowned for its gallery of unusual mammals, Australia is also a land of extraordinary birds. But unlike the mammals, the birds of Australia flew beyond the continent’s boundaries and around the globe many millions of years ago. This eye-opening book tells the dynamic but little-known story of how Australia provided the world with songbirds and parrots, among other bird groups, why Australian birds wield surprising ecological power, how Australia became a major evolutionary center, and why scientific biases have hindered recognition of these discoveries. From violent, swooping magpies to tool-making cockatoos, Australia’s birds are strikingly different from birds of other lands—often more intelligent and aggressive, often larger and longer-lived. Tim Low, a renowned biologist with a rare storytelling gift, here presents the amazing evolutionary history of Australia’s birds. The story of the birds, it turns out, is inseparable from the story of the continent itself and also the people who inhabit it.


Song of the Butcher Bird

Song of the Butcher Bird

Author: Gladys Mary Coles

Publisher: Flambard

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13:

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In her tenth collection, Gladys Mary Coles brings together her poems about war and its effects - major themes throughout her work. She ranges across the centuries, from the Roman invasion of Britain to the 2005 terrorist bombings in London, with a special focus on the First and Second World Wars.


Is Birdsong Music?

Is Birdsong Music?

Author: Hollis Taylor

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2017-05-01

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0253026482

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“A ground-breaking study of the songs of the pied butcherbird . . . intellectually engaging and also very entertaining as a fieldwork memoir.” —The Music Trust How and when does music become possible? Is it a matter of biology, or culture, or an interaction between the two? Revolutionizing the way we think about the core values of music and human exceptionalism, Hollis Taylor takes us on an outback road trip to meet the Australian pied butcherbird. Recognized for their distinct timbre, calls, and songs, both sexes of this songbird sing in duos, trios, and even larger choirs, transforming their flute-like songs annually. While birdsong has long inspired artists, writers, musicians, and philosophers, and enthralled listeners from all walks of life, researchers from the sciences have dominated its study. As a field musicologist, Taylor spends months each year in the Australian outback recording the songs of the pied butcherbird and chronicling their musical activities. She argues persuasively in these pages that their inventiveness in song surpasses biological necessity, compelling us to question the foundations of music and confront the remarkably entangled relationship between human and animal worlds. Equal parts nature essay, memoir, and scholarship, Is Birdsong Music? offers vivid portraits of the extreme locations where these avian choristers are found, quirky stories from the field, and an in-depth exploration of the vocalizations of the pied butcherbird. “Hollis Taylor has given us one of the most serious books ever written on animal music. Is Birdsong Music? is so engaging that all who care about humanity’s place on Earth should read it. We are certainly not the only musicians on this planet.” —David Rothenberg, author of Why Birds Sing


Bird Minds

Bird Minds

Author: Gisela Kaplan

Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING

Published: 2015-08-03

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1486300200

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In her comprehensive and carefully crafted book, Gisela Kaplan demonstrates how intelligent and emotional Australian birds can be. She describes complex behaviours such as grieving, deception, problem solving and the use of tools. Many Australian birds cooperate and defend each other, and exceptional ones go fishing by throwing breadcrumbs in the water, extract poisonous parts from prey and use tools to crack open eggshells and mussels. The author brings together evidence of many such cognitive abilities, suggesting plausible reasons for their appearance in Australian birds. Bird Minds is the first attempt to shine a critical and scientific light on the cognitive behaviour of Australian land birds. In this fascinating volume, the author also presents recent changes in our understanding of the avian brain and links these to life histories and longevity. Following on from Gisela’s well-received books on the Australian Magpie and the Tawny Frogmouth, as well as two earlier titles on birds, Bird Minds contends that the unique and often difficult conditions of Australia's environment have been crucial for the evolution of unusual complexities in avian cognition and behaviour.


Animal Dreaming

Animal Dreaming

Author: Scott Alexander King

Publisher: Blue Angel Gallery

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9780980398304

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Ancient teachings suggest that we are capable of communing with the forces of nature and speaking readily to the animals, birds, reptiles, fish and even the insects. Each animal offers its own sacred teachings. When we learn the symbolic language of the animals and listen carefully to what they have to say, we can use the knowledge gained to manifest their qualities and wisdom into our own lives. ANIMAL DREAMING explores the spiritual and symbolic interpretations of over 200 native, domesticated and introduced animals, birds, reptiles and fish in Australia, offering a wealth of ancient knowledge and spiritual insight. ANIMAL DREAMING is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the animal kingdom, sacred Earth Wisdom and Shamanic Lore.