My mother told me these stories. I was living in Sydney at the time, around the late 1980s. My father and my mother used to like to feed a family of magpies each day. They would arrive near the back door each waiting for some diced ham that my father would give to them. Being recently retired and unwell, he enjoyed this task and seeing the birds each day. My parents were very fond of this family of magpies. The male magpie started arriving initially, he must have been single and then for a while he disappeared and then returned with a female magpie and three little ones. He came to the back door and called. Then turned to his family just behind as much to say I would like to introduce you to the clan. They waited anxiously a bit away. He made a sound to the female bird, she then came forward to say hello or to be introduced to my parents. Consequently the diced ham needed to be increased somewhat.
On another occasion my mother spotted an injured magpie on the front lawn. It didn't look very well. It had a couple of magpies nearby keeping watch so it could die in safety. The bird did die near dusk. My mother saw many magpies sitting on the telegraph wires in front of their house. There must have been about 40 magpies. They starting singing. This lasted for about 45 mins. From dirges to more uplifting "hymns". Eventually they flew off. The funeral or gathering was over. The bird then could be picked up by mother and buried.
Bev Southcott
No comments:
Post a Comment