It is almost certainly responsible for the vanishing, over most of Britain, of the spotted flycatcher – a summer visitor from Africa such as the swallow or the cuckoo, and a bird which, though subdued in its grey-brown colouring, is charming in its behaviour.
Not much sunshine is needed around 15 minutes a day in summer but obtaining it in Britain, with its grey climate, house-bound children and official warnings about skin cancer, can be tricky.
Clearly, this was not what Cos had in mind when it launched its grey wool-mix apron this season (it also comes in black).
In its rather grey way, this little e-reader has shown that screen time is no longer a black-and-white issue.
"When philosophy paints its grey in grey, one form of life has become old, and by means of grey it cannot be rejuvenated, but only known.
Later, when they have come in and the garden is wrapped in its blue-grey pall of evening, Claudia looks through the window and sees Skittle cavorting alone in the indistinct light.
Destroyed during the second world war and rebuilt in stark modernist style by Brave New World architects, the gritty industrial port of Le Havre has shed its grey image in recent years, to become a dynamic centre for the arts.
And Israel is number one in the world for reusing its grey water, which gets channeled to irrigate agriculture.
His New York Times skyscraper, in contrast to the Shard, goes almost too far in its reticence, appearing grey and anonymous from a distance.
In its earlier days, Grey Advertising produced familiar campaigns that included "Go Greyhound and leave the driving to us," for the Greyhound bus line; "Choosy mothers choose Jif," for the Jif peanut butter brand sold by Procter, which is now sold by Smucker; and "For the seafood lover in you," for the Red Lobster chain once owned by General Mills and now part of Darden Restaurants.
