“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.”
What a birdbrain.
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Birds of a feather
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Are easy prey?
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Birds of a feather are worth two in the bush.
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And you can get two for a stone?
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I’ll just wing it.
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I’ll have to talon you.
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Ha ha!!
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Those tasty babies had obviously been fed well.
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It seems such a waste of caterpillar.
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Mother Thrush seems very sensible. I’m glad she got a little bit extra for dinner, she deserved it.
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That’s exactly what my father used to say every time Mother misplaced one of her children at Disneyland.
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Your father sounds like a sensible man.
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He normally just grunted – so to get a complete sentence was special.
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Grunting is the international language of intelligent and experienced men.
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Thanks. I often grunt myself.
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Yep.
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Ugh
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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.
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There’s clearly not a single falcon claw in you makeup – nor your sister’s. A good story! And well done!
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Thank you 😊
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Oh, if thrushes think like this, just think how cuckoos think…!
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Now there’s a reality check!
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Apparently, Mother Thrush was plotting to feed lettuce to the hawk! Thanks to Guzzle-Beak, the hawk will have a fine brunch.
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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?
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Not yet. But I am eating my lettuces promptly!
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It’s no wonder I hardly ever see thrushes these days!
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You might need to attract them by growing more lettuces.
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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.
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Food and fornication is something the hawk could get his claws into.
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