From Mr. Rabbit at Home by Joel Chandler Harris, 1895.

From The Nursery Rhymes of England by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, 1886.

Daredevil Birdie Draper crashed the brick wall of death on this day in 1938.

The Oozlefinch, mascot of the Coast Artillery, Fort Monroe, Virginia.  "This bird flies backwards in order to keep the dust out of his eyes, and he is so bashful that when he sees someone — he swallows himself!"

From Histoire d'un Casse-Noisette, 1921.

From The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, 1906.

A duck-headed butler opening the door for a Poe-esque gentleman?  Check.  (By the way, that's a precursor to David Lynch's commercial for the Sony Playstation, in which a duck says, "Welcome to the 'third place.'")  A faceless figure surrounded by disembodied cackling faces?  Check.  A crow in a jacket standing on a meditative sheep while an anthropomorphic dice cup spills and kills an innocent bystander?  Check.  A skeleton holding the Ace of Hearts?  Check.  Edward Gorey-esque despair on a settee?  Check.  Granted, the figure blowing his head off does seem rather too much.  From Judy, Or The London Serio-Comic Journal, 1884.

You've heard of someone being "bird brained," but here's the exact location of the avian part of the brain (and yes, it's egg-shaped), from Psychology and the School by Edward Herbert Cameron, 1921.

The great secret of weathervanes is that they alter the direction of the wind they measure (as per the "observer effect" of physics).  Here are two weathervanes with conflicting reports, as photographed by Leslie Jones, date uncertain.  And then here's another photo of disagreeing weathervanes, not that you didn't believe us.  Plus, it's not just weathervanes: flags also flap according to conflicting winds (photo our own).