I found what must be the only Grackle in the state of California. I went outside to eat lunch, and this hideous (as all you current Texans out there know) bird with a tail too long for its body comes hopping up next to me. "Are you LOST?" said I. "GRACK," said the grackle. "Are you hungry?" "GRACK" "Would you like a french fry?" "GRACK" So the obviously out of place grackle hopped over and took my french fry, calmly cut it into three pieces, managed to fit all three sideways in his beak, made one more gurgling "GRACK" through a mouthfull, and then flew off looking very proud of himself. The other birds who were keeping a proper distance swore at him as he flew away.