Rare Bird Summary

It is 1762 in Kent, just outside of London. Inside a house sit a group of men and one woman. The group includes Christopher Billopp, his sister Sarah Anne, and Christopher's guests. They are talking about Linnaeus's theory that swallows hibernate under the water in winter. They discuss several other people who also claim this to be true.

Their father had educated Christopher and Sarah Anne side by side after their mother died. They enjoyed an easy exchange of ideas and books. Sarah Anne inherited her father's brain, but Christopher had gotten everything else, including their father's friends. Sarah Anne acts as a hostess, but they refuse to take her seriously. She holds her tongue this evening while they talk. Christopher had recently begun courting Miss Juliet Colden and since then, her brother has become critical of her manners. "And so here...