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.
Conversation
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