Indeed, none of the recorded characteristics of buildings nor their location affected our counts of breeding Sparrows, which appeared to be distributed rather homogeneously across the urban areas we censused.

If somebody cuts you off on the highway, don't spit fire—forget about it and arrive at your intended destination in one piece and as relaxed as possible.

'Why bother with the daily grind when you can go to Mosul, get paid $400 a month, get a wife – and live an Islamic way,' went an exchange between two men overheard by a fellow passenger in a taxi. Rumour has it that a woman whose husband died fighting with Isis now receives a generous widow's pension from jihadi coffers.

Probably many of these incognita and rarissima perished in the great fire of London; others again met their fate solely through their own popularity, being ‘thumbed’ to pieces.