Cocky Escapee

We always had birds when I was growing up and our front veranda sheltered their cages from the hot sun of a Loxton summer. There was the large built in cage that had fluctuating numbers of  green and blue budgies and eggs that  never seemed to hatch. However my favourite was the hanging cage which was home to our pink galah, called ‘Cocky’. He could only say one thing, but did this very well screeching ‘Hello Cocky” to any family members or people passing by. It was always tricky to clean his cage, having to remove the bottom without him escaping, but we generally seemed to manage this well.

I was probably in about grade 4 at the local primary school when the escape occurred. The school was within walking distance of our house and being near the river, was home to large gum trees outside the classrooms. In those days air conditioning was not common, particularly in schools, so leaving the hopper windows open gave airflow to the classrooms, but also allowed noises from outside to penetrate the strict silence, often demanded by teachers during the 1960’s.

One Sunday, Mum and I cleaned Cocky’s cage as usual and thought we had safely secured the bottom, to the bars, before we went inside. Sometime later we came out to discover an empty cage with the bottom dangling by only one wire hook. The bird had flown the coop!  I searched and searched for Cocky, riding my bike around the neighbourhood, without any success. Quite distraught I got ready for school on Monday morning and emerged from the house to hear “Hello Cocky” from the very tall street light next to our house. Thank goodness Cocky has returned but our problem how was to get him back into the cage? With no time to do so I had to leave it up to Mum who sent me off saying, she would think of some ploy to get him in. However Cocky had other ideas and decided to follow me to school. Obviously carefully watching me, he set himself up in the nearest gum tree to my classroom and spent the morning calling out “Hello Cocky” to me in class and to all the children at recess time. He had a great time and I just felt embarrassed every time the classroom quiet was penetrated by his screeching. It was also an era of running home for a hot meal, if you lived near enough to school, so off I sprinted at lunch time. Naturally Cocky followed me and thankfully decided that he was hungry as well and without too much trouble flew to his cage to get something to eat. Mum and I were quickly able to return him to his cage, where he remained imprisoned for the rest of his long life.

It’s funny, but these days I hate the thought of birds being caged and now, in 2011, I probably would let him have his freedom, while providing a food supply he could access if needed.

Gwen Waters