Mayor William O'Dwyer of New York, faced with the prospect of boosting subway fares, told an audience: "It isn't my fault that the nickel got grey-headed.
Tycoons listen to him respectfully, and grey-headed clerics sit at his feet.
Ceylon, which is famed for such exotic birds as the grey-headed babbler, red-faced malkoha and Legge's flowerpecker, also boasts two even rarer aves: the world's only female .