It developed black wings, so that it was invisible when it settled on soot-covered tree trunks.

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The swift, stiff brushwork in Manet's "The Parisienne" (1875) makes one think of blue-black feathers, the iridescent wings of a grackle.

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If there is a truism we should by now have come to accept, it is to avoid single point extrapolations, look skeptically at the accepted wisdom of the day, and listen for the whistling wings of the Black Swan.

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The Black Cats found space on the wings and managed to despatch the ball into the Liverpool area but more often than not the visiting defence coped easily with what was thrown at them.

BBC: Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool