THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Image: James He (Year 10)
THE BLACKBIRD’S VIBRANCY IS BETTER HEARD THAN SEEN, FOR WHEN ITS MEAGRE BEAK OPENS, THE MELODY LET OUT IS LIQUID, LIKE THE MUSIC OF A GLASS CHIME, A RIVER’S SONG – THE MUSIC OF LIFE ITSELF
OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
INPRAISEOF AVIAN LIFE
Alexander Poli (Year 9) explains why birds are a source of wonder and delight
to diminish their glory, but only complements their beauty and wondrousness. Kingfishers are immaculately conducted birds, as one may observe from their table manners – they cleanly pierce the daintiest and choicest of fishes and flick them, with one graceful motion, into their bejewelled gullets. Not all birds can be as decorated as the kingfisher, and so we move on to the lowly pigeon. I hold these birds in the greatest respect due to their capability (as with the magpie) to adapt to any situation, unlike the beautiful kingfisher, which would perish away from its precious rivers. Both the pigeon and the magpie retain some decoration: an iridescent sheen on black feathers or grey throat. Pigeons are masters of survival, and remain indestructible, as only a man of the street can be. While all of the birds I have spoken of so far have had some sheen on their feathers, the only colour on the blackbird’s countenance is the bright yellow of its eyes and beak. The blackbird’s vibrancy is better heard than seen, for when its meagre beak opens, the melody let out is liquid, like the music of a glass chime, a river’s song – the music of life itself. The sunlight Prometheus stole from the gods is dull as burnished copper compared to the incandescence of this exquisite song. Without it, the world would be a tuneless wasteland. Avian society includes a certain circle of noblemen known as the birds of prey. The eyes of these seraphs of death, usually amber, pierce the hearts of the unfortunate souls upon whom they deign to cast their glare. These deadly
gentlemen take their work seriously – for them, killing is an art form. The kestrel has perfected the art of hovering perfectly still in the most tempestuous of gales, unfazed by the world around it, solely focused on its kill. Birds of prey have an almost supernatural air to them, as can be seen in the fleeting beauty of a barn owl swooping over a cornfield, ghostly in the silver moonlight. Another clan of birds is the gulls: loud, crass and crude, they flaunt their size and voice over smaller birds, taking as they please and causing disruption everywhere they go. They are the gangs who hang out in back alleys, mugging honest folk, like the waders, of their meagre supplies, and never once contributing to society. Still, many of them have a certain magnificence in their vast size. Unlike the birds of prey, they take no pride in their killing and bullying, simply doing it to appease their appetites. They are menacing yobs, the scourge of the skies. Last, but not least, are the waders. Simple folk, they take great pleasure and pride in their work, skimming the mud and water for food. While it is by no means a luxurious life, or an easy one, it suits them, and their lives are built around it. They wear coats of many different colours, from the speckled brown of the dunlin, which echoes the mud it thrives in, to the beautiful white and black of the avocet, striking against the grey water. While they are humble, they are not without dignity.
A s Londoners, we may take avian life for granted, having become accustomed to seeing the same birds every day. But what about the members of the avian world with which we are not familiar – from birds of paradise and kingfishers to gulls and waders? I shall start with a species of bird too often discriminated against, driven away with corn-stuffed abominations, and frequently thought of as evil or raucous. These are the ravens. Truly ravens are of another era, when old gods ruled and the heady scent of burnt magic filled the air. These birds are the reminders of those gods, set in flawless jet. They are
the crème de la crème of bird society, flaunting their regal stature. A bird more befitting of the description of raucous is the magpie. The distinction between these two birds is the manner. Where ravens are regal and carry themselves with power, magpies are tricksters, thieves, clothed with flamboyance that mirrors the trinkets they covet. They are crass-mouthed but dashing members of avian society. While both of these birds are stunning in their own right, surely the lord of the countryside is the iridescent kingfisher. Winged noblemen of the riverbank, they shine with the radiance of a thousand gemstones, and their small stature does nothing
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