the rumour bird repeats only what it has not heard. it has no ear in the conventional sense. it produces, instead, the sentence that a small assembly of acquaintances expected to hear; it produces it accurately, and slightly before they did.
the bird has no native song. it speaks only in fragments of gossip — names half-overheard, dates, the misattributed opinion of a neighbour. these fragments travel with it from landing to landing. in the rumour wing of the house a small flock has been counted; in the whisper corridor, only one.
the bird is harmless. it will, however, embarrass any gathering where someone has been preparing to say something for a long time. it can be discouraged by complete silence. it can be encouraged, if you ever wish to, by leaving a window ajar for a visitor who never came.
— heard the bird say the thing my brother said next week. — listener, undated.