Birding Bond

RichardTheBruce

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it
Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
Make a little birdhouse in your soul

A blue bird but not a Bluebird, @Agent_99.

Though of course there is a Bluebird in the lyrics. (And Argonauts!)

There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts
Bluebird of friendliness
Like guardian angels it's always near...

They Might Be Giants are a favorite.

They sell 'em by the way.

Agent_99

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

Oh, now that is cute. (And I've listened to that song a bajillion times and always heard the line as 'Blue Canary Wonder spelled L-I-T-E, so one lives and learns!)

RichardTheBruce

Surely we have the same pop culture influences as They Might Be Giants, @Agent_99.

Song of the South, Harve Foster, Wilfred Jackson, 1945.
"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah", Allie Wrubel (music), Ray Gilbert (lyrics). Performed by James Baskett.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin' my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder
It's the truth, it's actual
Ev'rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, feeling this way

Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder
It is the truth, it's actual... huh?
Where is that bluebird? Mm-hm!
Ev'rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!

Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings, 1973.
"Bluebird"

And of course Bluebirds have their own song.

j_w_pepper

Wait...in that Wings "Bluebird" video, is that David Cassidy beside Linda?

RichardTheBruce

I expect it's guitar player Henry McCullough. Had to look it up. He's a doppelgänger in that video, though.

Center here.

RichardTheBruce

Woodpecker / ˈwo͝od·pek·ər/ noun
1. a bird with a strong bill used in a drumming action

English (wood+pecker). German (specht).

Woodpecker (Picinae): birds with hardy bills that drill into wood for food or to bore out a nest. The drumming sound also used for communication. Known eaters of insects and/or sap (literally: sapsuckers), some also eat smaller animals, eggs. Mostly near-passerine (tree-dwellers), though some live in deserts and rocky areas.

Species (about 240 total): Arizona Woodpeckers (Picoides arizonae), Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens), Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus), American Three-toed Woodpecker(Picoides dorsalis), Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris), Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), Nuttall's Woodpecker (Picoides nuttalli), Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis), Strickland's Woodpecker (Picoides stricklandi), White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus), Andean Flicker (Colaptes rupicola), Campo Flicker (Colaptes campestris), Chilean Flicker (Colaptes pitius), Fernandina's Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae), Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides), Green-barred Woodpecker (Colaptes melanochloros), Red-shafted Flicker / Northern Flicker (Colaptes [auratus] cafer, Spot-breasted Woodpecker (Colaptes punctigula), Golden-olive Woodpecker (Colaptes rubiginosus), Arabian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos dorae), Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos nanus), Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos auriceps), Crimson-breasted Woodpecker (Dendrsocopos cathpharius), Darjeeling Woodpecker (Dendrocopos darjellensis), Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos macei), Grey-capped Woodpecker aka Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos canicapillus), Himalayan Woodpecker (Dendrocopos himalayensis), Philippine Woodpecker (Dendrocopos maculatus), Rufous-bellied Woodpecker (Dendrocopos hyperythrus), Sulawesi Woodpecker (Dendrocopos temminckii), Stripe-breasted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos atratus), Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos kizuki), Yellow-crowned aka Mahratta Woodpecker (Dendrocopos mahrattensis), Great Spotted aka Spotted Woodpecker or Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor), Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus[/i]), White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos), Narrow-billed Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes angustirostris), White-striped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes leucogaster), Lineated Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes albolineatus), Spot-crowned Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes affinis), Montane Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger), Streak-headed Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes souleyetii), Scaled Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes squamatus), Wagler's Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes squamatus wagleri), Scalloped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes falcinellus), Bearded Woodpecker (Dendropicos namaquus), Brown-backed Woodpecker (Dendropicos obsoletus), Olive Woodpecker (Dendropicos griseocephalus), Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens), Grey Woodpecker (Dendropicos goertae), Black-headed Woodpecker (Picus erythropygius), Banded Woodpecker (Picus mineaceus), Checker-throated Woodpecker (Picus mentalis), Crimson-winged Woodpecker (Picus puniceus), Grey-faced Woodpecker (Picus canus), Greater Yellownape (Picus flavinucha), Laced Woodpecker (Picus vittatus), Japanese Woodpecker aka Japanese Green Woodpecker (Picus awokera), Streak-throated Woodpecker (Picus xanthopygaeus), Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (Picus squamatus), European Green Woodpecker aka Yaffle (Picus viridis), Grey-headed aka Grey-faced Woodpecker (Picus canus), Lesser Yellownape Woodpecker (Picus chlorolophus), Levaillant’s aka Levaillant’s Green Woodpecker (Picus vaillantii), Nubian Woodpecker (Campethera nubica), Bennett's Woodpecker (Campethera bennettii), Buff-spotted Woodpecker (Campethera nivosa), Golden-tailed Woodpecker (Campethera abingoni), Fine-spotted Woodpecker (Campethera punctuligera), Blond-crested Woodpecker (Celeus flavescens), Chestnut-colored Woodpecker (Celeus castaneus), Cinnamon Woodpecker (Celeus loricatus), Cream-colored Woodpecker (Celeus flavus), Rufous Woodpeckers (Celeus brachyurus), Scaly-breasted Woodpecker (Celeus grammicus), Chestnut / Elegant Woodpecker (Celeus elegans), Blood-colored Woodpecker (Veniliornis sanguineus), Little Woodpecker (Veniliornis passerinus), Scarlet-backed Woodpecker (Veniliornis callonotus), White-spotted Woodpecker (Veniliornis spilogaster), Smoky-brown Woodpecker (Veniliornis fumigatus), Red-rumped Woodpecker (Veniliornis kirkii), Checkered Woodpecker (Veniliornis mixtus), Striped Woodpecker (Veniliornis lignarius), Buff-necked Woodpecker (Meiglyptes tukki), Buff-rumped Woodpecker (Meiglyptes tristis), Cream-backed Woodpecker (Campephilus leucopogon), Crimson-bellied Woodpecker (Campephilus haematogaster), Guayaquil Woodpecker (Campephilus gayaquilensis), Magellanic Woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus), Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), Red-necked Woodpecker (Campephilus rubricollis), Robust Woodpecker (Campephilus robustus), Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos), Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis), Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense), Himalayan Flameback (Dinopium shorii), Olive-backed Woodpecker (Dinopium rafflesii), Black-rumped Flameback aka Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker (Dinopium benghalense), Black-rumped Golden Flameback Woodpecker (Dinopium bengalensis), Crimson-mantled Woodpecker (Piculus rivolii), White-throated Woodpecker (Piculus leucolaemus), Yellow-browed Woodpecker (Piculus aurulentus), Yellow-throated Woodpecker (Piculus flavigula), Great Slaty Woodpecker (Mulleripicus pulverulentus), Gray-and-buff Woodpecker (Hemicircus concretus), Heart-spotted Woodpecker (Hemicircus canente), Ground Woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus), Okinawa Woodpecker (Sapheopipo noguchii), Orange-backed Woodpecker (Reinwardtipicus validus), White-bellied Woodpeckers aka Great Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus javensis), Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), Lineated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus lineatus), Greater Flameback aka Large Golden-backed Woodpecker or Malherbe's Golden-backed Woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes lucidus), White-naped Woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes festivus), Tawny-winged Woodpeckers (Dendrocincla anabatina), Plain-brown Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla fuliginosa).

Arabian Woodpecker

Black-rumped Golden Flameback Woodpecker

Blood-colored Woodpecker

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Japanese Woodpecker

Pileated woodpecker

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

RichardTheBruce

For Your Eyes Only, Ian Fleming, 1961.
“For Your Eyes Only”

…
Now there was no trail and he had to pick his way slowly, watching the ground for dead branches. The trees were more mixed. Among the spruce and silver birch there was an occasional oak and beech and sycamore and, here and there, the blazing Bengal fire of a maple in autumn dress. Under the trees was a sparse undergrowth of their saplings and much dead wood from old hurricanes. Bond went carefully down, his feet making little sound among the leaves and moss-covered rocks, but soon the forest was aware of him and began to pass on the news. A large doe, with two Bambi-like young, saw him first and galloped off with an appalling clatter. A brilliant woodpecker with a scarlet head flew down ahead of him, screeching each time Bond caught up with it, and always there were the chipmunks, craning up on their hind feet, lifting their small muzzles from their teeth as they tried to catch his scent, and then scampering off to their rock holes with chatterings that seemed to fill the woods with fright. Bond willed them to have no fear, that the gun he carried was not meant for them, but with each alarm he wondered if, when he got to the edge of the meadow, he would see down on the lawn a man with glasses who had been watching the frightened birds fleeing the treetops.

But when he stopped behind a last broad oak and looked down across the long meadow to the final belt of trees and the lake and the house, nothing had changed. All the other blinds were still down and the only movement was the thin plume of smoke.

RichardTheBruce

Birds of the West Indies, James Bond, 1936/1961.

JAMAICAN WOODPECKER Centurus radiolatus
Local names: Woodpecker; Green Woodpecker.
Description: 10-11.5”. Somewhat resembles [West Indian Red-bellied Woodpecker], but back and wings black, narrowly barred with white; centre of abdomen orange, not red; breast and abdomen otherwise darker and somewhat olivaceous. The red pattern of pileum and hindneck Is similar. The only Jamaican woodpecker, apart from the sapsucker.
Habitat: Widespread, occurring from lowland copses and coconut plantations to mountain rain forest.
Range: Jamaica.

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER Campephilus principalis
Local Name: Carpintero Real.
Description: 18-20”. A very large crested woodpecker, about the size of a crow. Plumage mostly black; a white stripe from near nape to back and large white patch on wing; bill ivory-white; prominent crest black in female, scarlet and black in male.
Voice: A loud, nasal pent-pent or pent, pent-pent, pent; occasionally more protracted.
Habitat: Formerly rare but widespread in lowland woods. A few pairs still exist in or near pine lands (below 1,500 feet) of the Sierra de Moa, north-eastern Oriente Province.
Range: Cuba and south-eastern United States.
Fig. 111.

CommanderRoss

Beautiful bird! Love the sound they make. I will delve into aviation history later.

RichardTheBruce

Moving forward.

CommanderRoss

Starting with the woodpecker skull as inspiration:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/01/c_137149402.htm

The home-built Woodpecker:



to the hot-air balloon ss Woodpecker



from Belgium

to the bluebird class USS Woodpecker

RichardTheBruce

For the Woodpecker aircraft, take note of the iconic image on the tail.
(Plus the unusually silent passenger in the back.)

A favorite (among many) in the Macy's Parade.

RichardTheBruce

Wren / 'ren / noun
1. a very small brown bird with a loud song and call
2. those resembling…
3. namesake for the Women's Royal Navy Service (WRNS)

Middle English (wrenne, wranne). Old English (wrenna, wrænna, werna, wærna, wrenne or wren). German (wrandjan, wrandijô). Icelandic (rindilþvari). Old High German (kuningilin, or "kinglet" as with fabled election of the king of birds).

Wren (Troglodytidae): small brown songbirds, usually with an upright tail and barred feathers. Notice the family name—Troglodyte recognizes some are dwellers in caves and dark places. Eaters of insects, some vegetation. Known for continuous activity, plus surprisingly loud and beautiful song.

.
Species: Grey-mantled wren (Odontorchilus branickii), Tooth-billed wren (Odontorchilus cinereus), Rock wren (Salpinctes obsoletus), Rock wren (Salpinctes obsoletus), Flutist wren (Microcerculus ustulatus), Southern nightingale-wren (Microcerculus marginatus), Northern nightingale-wren (Microcerculus philomela), Wing-banded wren (Microcerculus bambla), Canyon wren (Catherpes mexicanus), Canyon wren (Catherpes mexicanus), Nava's wren (Hylorchilus navai), Sumichrast's wren or slender-billed wren (Hylorchilus sumichrasti), Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), Band-backed wren (Campylorhynchus zonatus), Bicolored wren (Campylorhynchus griseus), Boucard's wren (Campylorhynchus jocosus), Cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), Fasciated wren (Campylorhynchus fasciatus), Giant wren (Campylorhynchus chiapensis), Grey-barred wren[/b] (Campylorhynchus megalopterus), Rufous-naped wren (Campylorhynchus rufinucha), Spotted wren (Campylorhynchus gularis), Stripe-backed wren (Campylorhynchus nuchalis), Thrush-like wren (Campylorhynchus turdinus), White-headed wren (Campylorhynchus albobrunneus), Yucatan wren (Campylorhynchus yucatanicus), Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii), Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii), Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), White-browed wren (Thryothorus (ludovicianus), albinucha), Fulvous wren (Cinnycerthia fulva), Peruvian wren (Cinnycerthia peruana), Rufous wren (Cinnycerthia unirufa), Sepia-brown wren or Sharpe's wren (Cinnycerthia olivascens), Bay wren (Cantorchilus nigricapillus), Long-billed wren (Cantorchilus longirostris), Stripe-breasted wren (Cantorchilus thoracicus), Stripe-throated wren (Cantorchilus leucopogon), Cabanis's wren (Cantorchilus modestus), Canebrake wren (Cantorchilus zeledoni), Isthmian wren (Cantorchilus elutus), Riverside wren (Cantorchilus semibadius), Bay wren (Cantorchilus nigricapillus), Superciliated wren (Cantorchilus superciliaris), Buff-breasted wren (Cantorchilus leucotis), (probably not monophyletic), Fawn-breasted wren (Cantorchilus guarayanus), Long-billed wren (Cantorchilus longirostris), Grey wren (Cantorchilus griseus), Antioquia wren (Thryophilus sernai), Rufous-and-white wren (Thryophilus rufalbus), Niceforo's wren (Thryophilus nicefori), Sinaloa wren (Thryophilus sinaloa), Banded wren (Thryophilus pleurostictus), Black-throated wren (Pheugopedius atrogularis), Happy wren (Pheugopedius felix), Moustached wren (Pheugopedius genibarbis), Coraya wren (Pheugopedius coraya), Whiskered wren (Pheugopedius mystacalis), Plain-tailed wren (Pheugopedius euophrys), Black-bellied wren (Pheugopedius fasciatoventris), Black-throated wren (Pheugopedius atrogularis), Sooty-headed wren (Pheugopedius spadix), Speckle-breasted wren (Pheugopedius sclateri), Happy wren (Pheugopedius felix), Inca wren (Pheugopedius eisenmanni), Rufous-breasted wren (Pheugopedius rutilus), Spot-breasted wren (Pheugopedius maculipectus), Chestnut-breasted wren (Cyphorhinus thoracicus), Musician wren (Cyphorhinus aradus), Song wren (Cyphorhinus phaeocephalus), White-bellied wren (Uropsila leucogastra), Bar-winged wood wren (Henicorhina leucoptera), Grey-breasted wood wren (Henicorhina leucophrys), White-breasted wood wren (Henicorhina leucosticta), Munchique wood wren, (Henicorhina negreti), Timberline wren (Thryorchilus browni), Southern house wren (Troglodytes musculus), House wren (Troglodytes aedon), Clarión wren (Troglodytes tanneri), Socorro wren (Troglodytes sissonii), Cobb's wren (Troglodytes cobbi), Rufous-browed wren (Troglodytes rufociliatus), Tepui wren (Troglodytes rufulus), Mountain wren (Troglodytes solstitialis), Ochraceous wren (Troglodytes ochraceus), Santa Marta wren (Troglodytes monticola), Winter wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus), Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), Apolinar's wren (Cistothorus apolinari), Marsh wren (Cistothorus palustris), Mérida wren or paramo wren (Cistothorus meridae), Sedge wren (Cistothorus platensis), Zapata wren (Ferminia cerverai).

Giant wren

Yucatan wren

Moustached wren

Eurasian wren

House wren

Winter wren

RichardTheBruce

Birds of the West Indies, James Bond, 1961 (1936).

WRENS Troglodytidae

THIS FAMILY is believed to have originated in tropical North America, where it is represented by many species. Two species occur in the West Indies, both with notable songs. One of these, the Zapata Wren, constitutes an endemic genus (Ferminia) believed to be related to Bewick’s Wren group (Thryomanes) of North America.

HOUSE WREN Troglodytes aedon
Local names: Rock Bird; Wall Bird; God Bird; Oiseau Bon Dieu; Rossignol.
Description: 4.5-5:. A little brown bird, with wings and tail, barred with black; those from St. Lucia and St. Vincent have white underparts. Easily recognized by its small size, perky appearance and constant activity. Fig. 126.
Voice: One of the best songsters of the Lesser Antilles (and also of Trinidad and Tobago). Song superior to, but at times reminiscent of, those of North American House Wrens; usually a bubbling warble.
Habitat: Widespread in Dominica and Grenada; on latter island, much more of a “house” wren than elsewhere in Lesser Antilles. In St. Lucia apparently now confined to semi-arid woodland in the north-east (e.g. near Le Marquis). On St. Vincent found sparingly at low elevations on both windward and leeward sides of island. Apparently extirpated on Guadeloupe (last reported at St. Rose in 1914) and Martinique (last reported in 1886). Inhabits undergrowth.
Nidification: The nest is situated in a crevice in a wall or building, or in a stump or hollow log; occasionally rather high above the ground in Grenada. Eggs (2-6; usually 4-5) thickly speckled.
Range: Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada. Also North, Central and South America, including Cozumel Island, Trinidad and Tobago.

ZAPATA WREN Ferminia cerverai
Local name: “Fermina.”
Description: 6.25”. The only wren found in the Greater Antilles is characterized by relatively short wings and long tail. Upperparts greyish brown, spotted on the head and barred elsewhere with black; underparts whitish. Rarely takes to win and flight very weak. Fig. 127.
Voice: A loud, variable warbling, suggesting the song of a canary, but more tuneful.
Habitat: Dense shrubbery in the Zapata Swamp, in the vicinity of the territory known as “Santos Tomás,” ranging approximately three miles north into the swamp from this relatively high, dry ground.
Niidification: Said to build a globular nest with the entrance at the side, situation in a bush, and to lay as many as six white eggs.
Range: Cuba.

RichardTheBruce

Moonraker, Ian Fleming, 1955.
Chapter XVI – A Golden Day

…
"Why are you called Gala?" he said to break his hot crouching thoughts.

She laughed. "I was teased about it all through school," she said, and Bond was impatient at the easy, clear voice, "and then through the Wrens and then by half the police force of London. But my real name's even worse. It's Galatea. She was a cruiser my father was serving in when I was born. I suppose Gala's not too bad. I've almost forgotten what I'm called. I'm always having to change my name now that I'm in the Special Branch."

"In the Special Branch."

"In the Special Branch."

"In the..."

When the bomb falls. When the pilot miscalculates and the plane hits short of the runway. When the blood leaves the heart and consciousness goes, there are thoughts in the mind, or words, or perhaps a phrase of music, which ring on for the few seconds before death like the dying clang of a bell.

Bond wasn't killed, but the words were still in his mind, several seconds later, after it had all happened.

RichardTheBruce

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Ian Fleming, 1963.

Chapter 6 – Bond of Bond Street?

...
Bond rang his exchange on the only outside number he was allowed to use, said '007 reporting,' and was at once put through to his secretary. She was a new one. Loelia Ponsonby had at last left to marry a dull, but worthy and rich member of the Baltic Exchange, and confined her contacts with her old job to rather yearning Christmas and birthday cards to the members of the Double-O Section. But the new one, Mary Goodnight, an ex-Wren with blue-black hair, blue eyes, and 37-22-35, was a honey and there was a private five-pound sweep in the Section as to who would get her first. Bond had been lying equal favourite with the ex-Royal Marine Commando who was 006 but, since Tracy, had dropped out of the field and now regarded himself as a rank outsider, though he still, rather bitchily, flirted with her. Now he said to her,' Good morning, Goodnight. What can I do for you? Is it war or peace?'

She giggled unprofessionally. 'It sounds fairly peaceful, as peaceful as a hurry message from upstairs can be. You're to go at once to the College of Arms and ask for Griffon Or.'

'Or what?'

'Just Or. Oh, and he's Pursuivant as well, whatever that means. He's one of the Heralds. Apparently they've got some kind of a line on "Bedlam".'

'Bedlam' was the code name for the pursuit of Blofeld. Bond said respectfully, 'Have they indeed? Then I'd better get cracking. Goodbye, Goodnight.' He heard her giggle before he put the receiver down.

RichardTheBruce

Octopussy and the Living Daylights, Ian Fleming, 1966.
“Octopussy”

...

The eye in the mottled brown sack was still watching him carefully from the hole in the coral, but now the tip of a single small tentacle wavered hesitatingly an inch or two out of the shadows and quested vaguely with its pink suckers uppermost. Dexter Smythe smiled with satisfaction. Given time—perhaps one more month on top of the two during which he had been chumming the octopus—and he would have tamed the darling. But he wasn't going to have that month. Should he take a chance today and reach down and offer his hand, instead of the expected lump of raw meat on the end of his spear, to the tentacle? Shake it by the hand, so to speak? No, Pussy, he thought. I can't quite trust you yet. Almost certainly other tentacles would whip out of the hole and up his arm. He only needed to be dragged down less than two feet for the cork valve on his mask to automatically close, and he would be suffocated inside it or, if he tore it off, drowned. He might get in a quick lucky jab with his spear, but it would take more than that to kill Pussy. No. Perhaps later in the day. It would be rather like playing Russian roulette, and at about the same five-to-one odds. It might be a quick, a whimsical, way out of his troubles! But not now. It would leave the interesting question unsolved. And he had promised that nice Professor Bengry at the Institute.... Dexter Smythe swam leisurely off toward the reef, his eyes questing for one shape only, the squat, sinister wedge of a scorpionfish, or, as Bengry would put it, Scorpaena plumieri.

Major Dexter Smythe, O.B.E., Royal Marines (Retd.), was the remains of a once brave and resourceful officer and of a handsome man who had had the sexual run of his teeth all his life, particularly among the Wrens and Wracs and ATS who manned the communications and secretariat of the very special task force to which he had been attached at the end of his service career. Now he was fifty-four and slightly bald, and his belly sagged in his Jantzen trunks. And he had had two coronary thromboses. His doctor, Jimmy Greaves, (who had been one of their high poker game at Queen's Club when Dexter Smythe had first come to Jamaica), had half jocularly described the later one, only a month before, as 'the second warning'. But, in his well-chosen clothes, with his varicose veins out of sight, and with his stomach flattened by a discreet support belt behind an immaculate cummerbund, he was still a fine figure of a man at a cocktail party or dinner on the North Shore. And it was a mystery to his friends and neighbors why, in defiance of the two ounces of whiskey and the ten cigarettes a day to which his doctor had rationed him, he persisted in smoking like a chimney and going to bed drunk, if amiably drunk, every night.

...He resigned from the Royal Marines and got himself demobilized and married one of the many girls he had slept with at MOB Force Headquarters, a charming blonde Wren from a solid middle-class family named Mary Parnell. He got passages or them both in one of the early banana boats sailing from Avonmouth to Kingston, Jamaica, which they both agreed would be a paradise of sunshine, good food, cheap drink, and a glorious haven from the gloom and restrictions and Labour Government of postwar England. Before they sailed, Major Smythe showed Mary the gold bars from which he had chiseled away the mint marks of the Reichsbank. "I've been clever, darling," he said. "I just don't trust the pound these days, so I've sold out all my securities and swapped the lot for gold. Must be about fifty thousand pounds' worth there. That should give us twenty-five years of the good life, just cutting off a slice now and then and selling it."

Mary Parnell was not to know that such a transaction was impossible under the currency laws. She knelt down and ran her hands lovingly over the gleaming bars. Then she got up and threw her arms around Major Smythe's neck and kissed him. "You're a wonderful, wonderful man," she said, almost in tears. "Frightfully clever and handsome and brave, and now I find out that you're rich as well. I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

"Well, anyway we're rich," said Major Smythe. "But promise me you won't breathe a word, or we'll have all the burglars in Jamaica around our ears. Promise?"

j_w_pepper

And you haven't even got to Sir Christopher Wren yet...unless I overlooked it.

RichardTheBruce

Not covered, @j_w_pepper, and the floor is open.

Better you address that particular subject, I'm more prepared for something like Christopher Robin.

Agent_99

Bond probably had a few of these in his pocket, at least until they ceased to be legal tender in 1960:



(Love a Jenny Wren. They're so cute and tiny!)

RichardTheBruce

So "Wrens" like Gala Brand and Mary Goodnight have a military background.

The WRNS, or Women's Royal Naval Service, are the UK Royal Navy all-female branch established 1917-1919 during the First World War. Reestablished for the Second, 1939 and continuing until its full integration into the service 1993.



Famous ads and posters asked for volunteer typists, book-keepers, telephone operators, wireless telegraphists, cooks, waitresses, housemaids. Originally in the effort to free up men "for the fleet" and combat duties.


As the posters declared, intended to free up men for fleet and combat service.


A colorful piece of military history, fondly remembered.

RichardTheBruce

A fitting memorial to the Wrens.

RichardTheBruce

Turkey buzzard / ˈtər·kē ˈbə·zərd / noun
Turkey vulture / ˈtər·kē ˈvəl·'chər / noun
1. a vulture of the Americas
2. Turkey buzzard as a commonly used name for Turkey vulture

Latin (buteo, falcon). French (busard).

Turkey buzzard, AKA Turkey vulture AKA John Crow (Cathartes aura): truly a vulture with a long neck and a featherless head exposing its red skin. Scavenger, feeding on carrion, designed to bury its beak into the depths of a carcass while later its bald skin can dry in the sun free of bacteria and decomposing material. Large birds, up to six feet wingspan. Range from lower Canada to South America.

So named for their feathered resemblance to the Wild turkey.

[Note: see Vultures as covered on Page 9.]

[Note: actual Buzzards are grouped with Hawks as covered on Page 11, and have more the appearance of Falcons and Eagles vice Vultures.]

Species: Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura aura), Chilean turkey vulture (Cathartes aura jota), Western turkey vulture (Cathartes aura meridionalis), Brazilian turkey vulture (Cathartes aura ruficollis), Eastern turkey vulture (Cathartes aura septentrionalis).

Turkey vulture


Chilean turkey vulture


Western turkey vulture

Brazilian turkey vulture

Eastern turkey vulture

RichardTheBruce

Birds of the West Indies, James Bond, 1961. (1936)

AMERICAN VULTURES OR CONDORS Cathartidae

THE AMERICAN VULTURES comprise a small family of six species, only one of which, the Turkey Vulture, is known from the West Indies. There are slight records of the smaller Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) from Cuba and Jamaica, but these probably pertain to immature individuals of the Turkey Vulture.

Since these birds feed on carrion, they are highly beneficial, particularly in the Tropics where sanitary conditions are not at their best.

TURKEY VULTURE Cathartes aura
Fig. 39. Turkey Vulture

Local names: Crow; John Crow (Jamaica); Carrion Crow (Bahamas); Aura; Aura Tiñosa.
Description: 27-32". An unmistakable, great black bird with a bare, crimson head. Young have the skin of the head blackish. Usually seen soaring, the wings held above horizontal. Fig. 39.
Habitat: Found chiefly in open country and in large town (e.g. Havana and Kingston). Introduced in Puerto Rico from Cuba (about 1800), and only recently established in Hispaniola, where found in north-eastern portion of Dominican Republic.
Nidification: The (1-2) spotted eggs are deposited among rocks in the side of a cliff, in a hollow log or stump, or on the ground in a thicket.
Range: Cuba (including coastal cays), Isle of Pines, Jamaica, Hispaniola, south-western Puerto Rico; also north-eastern Bahamas (Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros). Also North, Central, and South America, including Trinidad.

RichardTheBruce

The Man with the Golden Gun, Ian Fleming, 1965.
Chapter 13 - Hear the Train Blow!

...

Bond was told to get in the back of the car. They set off. Once again that offered neck! Crazy not to take him now! But it was open country with no cover and there were five guns riding behind. The odds simply weren't good enough. What was the plan for his removal? During the "hunting" presumably. James Bond smiled grimly to himself. He was feeling happy. He wouldn't have been able to explain the emotion. It was a feeling of being keyed up, wound taut. It was the moment, after twenty passes, when you got a hand you could bet on--not necessarily win, but bet on. He had been after this man for over six weeks. Today, this morning perhaps, was to come the payoff he had been ordered to bring about. It was win or lose. The odds? Foreknowledge was playing for him. He was more heavily forearmed than the enemy knew. But the enemy had the big battalions on their side. There were more of them. And, taking only Scaramanga, perhaps more talent. Weapons? Again leaving out the others, Scaramanga had the advantage. The long-barrelled Colt .45 would be a fraction slower on the draw, but its length of barrel would give it more accuracy than the Walther automatic. Rate of fire? The Walther should have the edge--and the first empty chamber of Scaramanga's gun, if it hadn't been discovered, would be an additional bonus. The steady hand? The cool brain? The sharpness of the lust to kill? How did they weigh up? Probably nothing to choose on the first two,. Bond might be a shade trigger-happy--of necessity. That he must watch. He must damp down the fire in his belly. Get ice-cold. In the lust to kill, perhaps he was the strongest. Of course. He was fighting for his life. The other man was just amusing himself--providing sport for his friends, displaying his potency, showing off. That was good! That might be decisive! Bond said to himself that he must increase the other man's unawareness, his casual certitude, his lack of caution. He must be the P. G. Wodehouse Englishman, the limey of the cartoons. He must play easy to take. The adrenalin coursed into James Bond's bloodstream. His pulse rate began to run a fraction high. He felt it on his wrist. He breathed deeply and slowly to bring it down. He found that he was sitting forward, tensed. He sat back and tried to relax. All of his body relaxed except his right hand. This was in the control of someone else. Resting on his right thigh, it still twitched slightly from time to time like the paw of a sleeping dog chasing rabbits.

He put it into his coat pocket and watched a turkey buzzard a thousand feet up, circling. He put himself into the mind of the John Crow, watching out for a squashed toad or a dead bush rat. The circling buzzard had found its offal. It came lower and lower. Bond wished it bon appetit. The predator in him wished the scavenger a good meal. He smiled at the comparison between them. They were both following a scent. The main difference was that the John Crow was a protected bird. No one would shoot back at it when it made its final dive. Amused by his thoughts, Bond's right hand came out of his pocket and lit a cigarette for him, quietly and obediently. It had stopped going off chasing rabbits on its own.

Bond had done his homework on the 1:50,000 Overseas Survey map that Mary had provided, and he knew exactly the route the little cane line took. First there would be five miles of the cane fields, between whose high green walls they were now travelling. Then came Middle River, followed by the vast expanse of swamplands, now being slowly reclaimed but still shown on the map as THE GREAT MORASS. Then would come Orange River leading into Orange Bay, and then more sugar and mixed forest and agricultural smallholdings until they came to the little hamlet of Green Island at the head of the excellent anchorage of Green Island Harbour.

A hundred yards ahead, a turkey buzzard rose from beside the line, and after a few heavy flaps, caught the inshore breeze and soared up and away. There came the boom of Scaramanga's gun. A feather drifted down from the great right-hand wing of the big bird. The turkey buzzard swerved and soared higher. A second shot rang out. The bird gave a jerk and began to tumble untidily down out of the sky. It jerked again as a third bullet hit it before it crashed into the cane. There was applause from under the yellow roof. Bond leant out and called to Scaramanga, "That'll cost you five pounds unless you've squared the Rasta. That's the fine for killing a John Crow."

A shot whistled past Bond's head. Scarmanga laughed. "Sorry. Thought I saw a rat." And then, "Come on, Mr. Hazard. Let's see some gun play from you. There's some cattle grazing by the line up there. See if you can hit a cow at ten paces."

Chapter 14 - The Great Morass

...
The screaming progress of the driverless train changed to a roar as the track took to the trestles of the long bridge. Bond watched it vaguely, wondering when it would run out of steam. What would tie three gangsters do now? Take to the hills? Get the train under control and go on to Green Harbour and try and take the Thunder Bird across to Cuba? Immediately the answer came! Halfway across the bridge, the engine suddenly reared up like a bucking stallion. At the same time there came a crash of thunder and a vast sheet of flame, and the bridge buckled downwards in the centre like a bent leg. Chunks of torn iron sprayed upwards and sideways, and there was a splintering crash as the main stanchions gave and slowly bowed down towards the water. Through the jagged gap, the beautiful Belle, a smashed toy, folded upon itself and, with a giant splintering of iron and woodwork and a volcano of spray and steam, thundered into the river.

A deafening silence fell. Somewhere behind Bond, a wakened tree frog tinkled uncertainly. Four white egrets flew down and over the wreck, their necks outstretched inquisitively. In the distance, black dots materialized high up in the sky and circled lazily closer. The sixth sense of the turkey buzzards had told them that the distant explosion was disaster--something that might yield a meal. The sun hammered down on the silver rails, and a few yards away from where Bond lay, a group of yellow butterflies danced in the shimmer. Bond got slowly to his feet, and parting the butterflies, began walking slowly but purposefully up the line towards the bridge. First Felix Leiter, and then after the big one that had got away.

Leiter lay in the stinking mud. His left leg was at a hideous angle. Bond went down to him, his finger to his lips. He knelt beside him and said softly, "Nothing much I can do for now, pal. I'll give you a bullet to bite on and get you into some shade. There'll be people coming before long. Got to get on after that bastard. He's somewhere up there by the bridge. What made you think he was dead?"

Leiter, groaned, more in anger with himself than from the pain. "There was blood all over the place." The voice was a halting whisper between clenched teeth. "His shirt was soaked in it. Eyes closed. Thought if he wasn't cold he'd go with the others on the bridge." He smiled faintly. "How did you dig the River Kwai stunt? Go off all right?"

Bond raised a thumb. "Fourth of July. The crocs'll be sitting down to table right now. But that damned dummy! Gave me a nasty turn. Did you put her there?"

j_w_pepper

Thanks for this. Ever since my exchange year 1974/75, I've been wondering why the Americans called this bird a "buzzard" while it obviously lookes like a vulture. Now I know that buteo is what we have in Europe, while the American term is really a misnomer for a vulture.

RichardTheBruce

No less confusing for American me, @j_w_pepper.

So Ian Fleming used accepted US language and Turkey buzzard. Not sure why he didn't stick to his copy of Birds of the West Indies, though.

Comparison: Turkey vulture and Turkey buzzard.

Agent_99

That baby turkey vulture is just heart-melting.

Thunderfinger

They see the world differently. They don t know how ugly they are.

QBranch

Hi- or should I say, tweet tweet! I've been meaning to make a contribution to this brilliant thread. I'd like to add some *further* references I didn't see mentioned on the list. Apologies if some have been - I checked through the many pages first.

Birds of the West Indies 3rd? Edition, 1960? (SP/Goldeneye '89)

Three hummingbirds feature on the front cover and spine:
Green-throated Carib (bird #5)
Purple-throated Carib (bird #6)
Hispaniolan Emerald Hummingbird (bird #2a) (on spine)


Back cover detail:

Birds of the West Indies 5th Edition, 1993 or 2002? (DAD)

Two birds feature on the front cover. The wing belongs to the Black-billed Parrot (bird #2):


Illustration seen at bottom-right of front cover (there's no mention of which bird this is):

Doctor Bird Also seen on this stamp attached to Strangways' receipt from Prof. Dent (DN)

Eagle statue seen behind Falco, and NSA eagle logo on various documents (DAD)

NSA eagle logo seen on agent Mya Starling's ID card from Everything or Nothing game:

Eagle seen on the header for Herald Tribune newspaper (CR)

Most likely an eagle seen on $100 play money from JB Multiple Products toy briefcase, 1965:

Possibly an eagle on the Miami police badge (LTK)

Possibly an eagle seen on the Isthmus City logo (LTK)

Also, possibly an eagle seen on the Nambutu embassy official's cigarette pack in his desk drawer (CR)

A two-headed Eagle also appears as the logo for Petr1 cigarettes, in which custom packs were made for the production of GE during Russian scenes (haven't spotted them on screen though, yet).

http://www.bondcollectibles.de/catalogue/products.php?product=5453

And a similar logo for the Hotel Splendide (CR)

Griffin Two of them appear on the Hotel Fontainebleau logo (GF). Seen on various props: matchbook next to the gin rummy table, ashtray in Bond and Jill's hotel etc.

Quail Bond has a dozen quail eggs in his suitcase at Shrublands (NSNA)

Bryant & May Swan Vestas- M's matches (DN-OHMSS/TMWTGG; newer designs seen in MR/OP/TLD)

Further considerations:

'Speedbird' BOAC airline logo (DN/FRWL/GF/TB/TSWLM/TMWTGG Pan novel cover)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedbird

Appearances:
DN: flight attendant's bag; Bond's luggage tag (although he flies with Pan Am, not BOAC!)
FRWL: London brochure and stand seen on reception desk at Bond's hotel in Istanbul
GF: calendar seen in Moneypenny's office
TB: Fiona Volpe/Count Lippe's luggage tags - seen when Lippe takes Derval's watch and dog tag
TSWLM: Q's bag when he delivers Wet Nellie
TMWTGG: Scaramanga's luggage label on Pan novel front cover




Side note: BOAC is also mentioned in the Goldfinger novel and 007 in New York.

We know there are several references in YOLT ("Bird never make nest in bare tree"/SPECTRE Bird One rocket). Also, Moneypenny's Japanese phrase book includes bird translations on page #155:

Possibly a dove, swallow or wren? seen on $20/$100 prop money (LTK)

Avis car rental - 'Avis' being Latin for 'bird' (TND)

The Ocean Sky receptionist from QOS has a winged badge with the logo in the centre:

The Charles Mingus CD seen in QOS (Fields' death scene) has a track titled 'Gunslinging Bird':

The Shah bird Spotted briefly in the Russian prison cell (TLD) - seen all over the world: