Hateful House Wrens eat a wide variety of small creatures: flies, daddy long-legs, snails, caterpillars, beetles, worms, and other small insects.2 In mid-fall, they migrate south for the winter. Larger kinds have a more varied diet and list of daily activities. At most, any Departure Bird may live up to 10 years.

A Song of the Sickle Moon—Summer Feeding Ritual

Each year (usually right before the end of summer) Departure Birds feed upon human brains on a night lightened by a crescent moon. The animals begin by seeking out an entrance to a home or an individual sleeping outside; most often, they enter a bedroom through an open window. Once within earshot, they sing a haunting, trilling melody, which puts listeners into a deep, paralyzing sleep. Hopping to the victim’s side, the bird unfurls its long, pronged tongue and inserts it into the eye. With ease, the sharp tongue delves through the socket, following the optic nerve into the brain. Though the tongue’s exterior is hardened, the interior is hollow; the prongs…