One of the most despised and yet also the most wonderful of birds. 

The common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) is common through most of North America. It's about a foot long with a long, dark bill, yellow eyes, a long tail, and dark iridescent feathers on the head and wings. Female grackles are a bit smaller and less iridescent.

It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 edition of the Systema Naturae and given the taxonomy Gracula quiscula. In the 1816 Dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot assigned it to the genus Quiscalus. There are three recognized subspecies of the bird: the Florida grackle, the purple grackle, and the bronzed grackle. 

Grackles are omnivorous and will eat seeds, grain, berries, insects, eggs, frogs, minnows, and even small birds and rodents. They love to eat regular ol' people food when they can get it. They forage for food on the ground, in shrubs, and in

Hedley Kow is an English folktale recorded by Joseph Jacobs in 1894.

There was once an old woman, who earned a poor living by going errands and such like, for the farmers' wives round about the village where she lived. It wasn't much she earned by it; but with a plate of meat at one house, and a cup of tea at another, she made shift to get on somehow, and always looked as cheerful as if she hadn't a want in the world.

Well, one summer evening as she

Back again, and ready to wreak some havoc, welcome the deathborgs! And some death-fairies, death-hobbits, and death-ships. Maybe some nice borgs too. All sorts are invited!

All science fictional stories, poems, essays, and predictions are accepted. In the spirit of providing an inclusive environment, fairies, ghosts, mages, and gods are also welcome. Reviews and explanations of science-fictional concepts will be accepted, but factual science writeups are suspect, and will probably