“Now, now, Guzzle-Beak,” said Mother Thrush to her baby in the nest. “You must learn not to complain about your food. It doesn’t matter if you find a bit of lettuce in your caterpillar. Just quietly eat it and things will be fine. It won’t kill you.”
“Look at what happened to your brothers and sisters. There were five of you at the start, and they complained about the food. Next thing, they disappeared. It’s a nasty world out there and we must learn to be grateful for small mercies.”
“Your father and I have worn ourselves to a frazzle finding food for you. So a bit of appreciation wouldn’t go amiss. Taking a positive attitude to things will see you right in life. You’ll go places.”
Just then a hawk swooped down from nowhere, grabbed Guzzle-Beak in its talons, and flew off.
“Oh well,” sighed Mother Thrush eating the caterpillar she had brought for her baby and spitting out the bit of lettuce that was mixed in, “Mr. Thrush and I shall start a second clutch tomorrow.”
Weave a Web 
What a birdbrain.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Birds of a feather
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are easy prey?
LikeLike
Birds of a feather are worth two in the bush.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And you can get two for a stone?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll just wing it.
LikeLike
I’ll have to talon you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those tasty babies had obviously been fed well.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It seems such a waste of caterpillar.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mother Thrush seems very sensible. I’m glad she got a little bit extra for dinner, she deserved it.
LikeLiked by 3 people
That’s exactly what my father used to say every time Mother misplaced one of her children at Disneyland.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your father sounds like a sensible man.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He normally just grunted – so to get a complete sentence was special.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Grunting is the international language of intelligent and experienced men.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. I often grunt myself.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yep.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ugh
LikeLiked by 1 person
Turns out we have a nest of thrushes near our back door. They were so well fed, the nest collapsed and 3 out of 4 chicks fell out (the 4th, the biggest guzzle beak of them all, hopped onto a tree branch). Following my instructions, my sister braved the broken nest with a pillowcase and they all lived to fledge successfully.
LikeLiked by 2 people
There’s clearly not a single falcon claw in you makeup – nor your sister’s. A good story! And well done!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, if thrushes think like this, just think how cuckoos think…!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Now there’s a reality check!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Apparently, Mother Thrush was plotting to feed lettuce to the hawk! Thanks to Guzzle-Beak, the hawk will have a fine brunch.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always eat your greens. The hawk will now have plenty of energy to pursue other nests. Are you getting or about to get any of that bad weather that is hitting parts of India?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not yet. But I am eating my lettuces promptly!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s no wonder I hardly ever see thrushes these days!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You might need to attract them by growing more lettuces.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh well. Life goes on, I guess. Love, loss, food and fornication…you know…the same old, same old…The Ghost of Guzzle-beak would make a good sequel though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Food and fornication is something the hawk could get his claws into.
LikeLiked by 1 person