Gone are the days of the blackbird—i.e. 'i giorni della merla' in Italian, an expression I've always loved for that connection of meteorology and ornithology, legend and frost.
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The legend says that a blackbird and its chicks, originally white, to shelter from the severe cold, took refuge inside a chimney, from which they emerged on February 1st, all black because of the soot. From that day on, all the blackbirds were black
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