Samata waits anxiously as the chicken flutters in its death throes waiting to see how it falls.

BBC: Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile

Later, imagining them in their death throes, taking pity on them, he would come back, move the rock.

NEWYORKER: Tenth of December

But these are probably just quirks of consensus, not its death throes.

ECONOMIST: Germany

But being heard over the din of Labour's death throes - Nick Clegg's words not mine - will be difficult if not nigh on impossible.

BBC: Challenge for Clegg despite tax victory

"Iridium tried to work with smaller partners and, in its death throes, assembled its own in-house sales force, " explains Andy Radlow, Globalstar USA's director of marketing.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Indeed, Ms Davidson hints at such a prospect in her speech today when she says "the much-derided and little-understood Barnett Formula is already in its death throes".

BBC: Line in the sand no more