Birds-eye figure is (surprise) a grain pattern reminiscent of hundreds of small bird's eyes scattered across the face of a board or veneer.

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In Open City, writer Teju Cole describes Colonel Tassin - a (real) 19th Century figure - who kept count of the number of birds killed by flying into the Statue of Liberty, as many as 1, 400 a night.

BBC: Is there a novel that defines the 9/11 decade?