Teetiri protects the grassland - 12 - Dominga is fooled by Darzi and returns to Domingi

12

Dominga is fooled by Darzi and returns to Domingi

Phoolchuki, Teetiri and Darzi returned to talk to Dominga. It was Darzi who spoke first. He told Dominga that it was not an unknown thing for eggs to change colour while at the nest. It must have been Dominga’s mistake. Did he, did he, did he, did he ever, ever, ever, ever, feed one of those red and black coloured caterpillars to Domingi before the eggs were laid? Dominga was taken aback. Was it his mistake? Did he give one of those red and black coloured caterpillars to Domingi? He thought very hard. But Darzi did not give him time to think. He kept talking. Dominga must have, must have, must have, must have, fed one of those stick-like grasshoppers then. If not the red and black caterpillars or the stick-like grasshoppers, then he must have, must have, must have, must have given one of those glowing worms that shone brilliantly at night. Dominga nodded hesitantly. Yes. He had once caught one of those glowing worms.

But those glowing worms were certainly not shining once he had caught them, said Dominga. But, it may also have been one of those stick-like grasshoppers. He had once caught a young one. He stopped to think back. Darzi looked at Phoolchuki and winked. Now they had him. Darzi began to talk very fast again. Yes yes yes yes. That must be, must be, must be, must be it. He must have given one of the glow-worms or the stick-like grasshoppers to Domingi.  Did you know that could change the egg-colour? It was his entire fault. Did he, did he, did he, did he, did he scold Domingi for his mistake? Did he, did he, did he, did he? Darzi kept asking. He did not want to give any time for Dominga to realise that he may be wrong or that he was being fooled. And suddenly, Darzi flew away to the babool tree, and back to Darzeee at her nest.

Darzi was happy that he had completed two tasks. First, he had helped Domingi protect her eggs. Second, he had fooled Dominga. He had wanted to do that for a long long time. Dominga had always been a very proud songster, singing from the highest branch, or from some of those new electric cables and wireposts that had been lined up along the edge of the grassland. Those electric cables gave off a loud buzzing noise sometimes. Most birds did not go near them. Darzi was always content to sing from within the branches of trees or bushes, and usually sang to tell Darzeee or other tailor birds that he was nearby. But Dominga was a proud bird. He kept singing just to show off, Darzi was convinced.

Meanwhile, back at the ber bush, Phoolchuki told Dominga to begin smiling, stop his sad look and get back to Domingi back as soon as possible. Dominga looked at Teetiri and asked her as to what she thought. Teetiri also smiled and asked Dominga that he should certainly get back to Domingi right away. She must be starving at the nest. He should go and apologise. Phoolchuki would go with him and make sure that he did apologise. Otherwise Teetiri would tell all the other lapwings to spread the message that Dominga had been a very very bad bird. Then nobody would protect him.

Domingi - the female Magpie Robin knew that

Dominga would return to her after his anger would go off.

[Photograph - Govinda Swami]

Each time a Shaheen, the falcon, would come hunting for small birds near the tall tamarind tree, some bird or the other would point out Dominga’s location to be hunted. Or, it could be more dangerous, if the tailor birds sounded their alarm to identify Dominga’s hiding place to Shikra, the sparrow hawk, known to all the birds as the silent killer, who flew in between the branches of the trees and bushes. Frightened and completely humbled, Dominga flew back to Domingi with Phoolchuki at his side. Both Shaheen and Shikra were the most feared hunting birds in the grassland, riverside trees, in the orchard, and in the village nearby. Most birds usually helped each other to know that these hunters were nearby. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 13 - Teetiri goes to hunt for red crabs

13

Teetiri goes to hunt for red crabs

Teetiri returned to the marshy water-patch near the rocks. There would be good food to be eaten here. The small red crabs could be found among these grasses and rocks. These brilliant-red coloured animals kept running sideways when disturbed and would dig themselves into the sand thinking that they could not be spotted. But the wet marshy soil and undisturbed sand surface always betrayed them. The footprints of the small red crabs were left on the wet marshy soil and led the birds directly to the spots where they had dug themselves in. The lapwings and other wading birds followed these tracks as they could thus easily identify the presence of the red crabs and pull them out of their hiding spots and eat them up. The deeper water patches in the marsh allowed some hiding places for Teetiri to hide in if Shaheen or Shikra, came hunting in the grassland.

The marshy water-patch was also a favourite hunting place for other wading birds.  Chimini and her family usually frequented it. Salonki and her large numbers of brothers and sisters as also a number of frogs were to be usually seen there. Teetiri loved the songs of the frogs when the first monsoon came down over the grassland and the river. There would be thousands of red crabs that would be running all over the place without even any space for them to dig down to hide.

Teetiri would be joined by her entire family at that time to feed upon the red crabs. All her relatives, her parents, her brothers and sisters and Teetiraa’s relatives would be there at the marsh. Teetiraa’s cousins from across the river would also join them at that time. All of them knew of the marsh and the best place to visit it. They usually left it for Teetiri and Teetiraa for the rest of the year. There were other spots and other times when Teetiri and Teetiraa joined their cousins from across the river, like when the flying ants came out from the ground, or when the waters at the salt-water creek went down in summer exposing thousands of young fish trapped in the rocks.

There were no birds present at the marsh today. That was strange, thought Teetiri. Usually, there would be many birds at this time of the day. Was there something wrong? There did not seem anything like being totally wrong here. The red crabs were there. They were running around. The waters were very inviting.  The cool waters would be very welcome to rest in after the hot rocks that she had crawled through. The grass was not moving. Was there some predator out there at the marsh? Would she be able to spot the predator in time? Was it Mongoose or Lombdi, the wolf? Was it Naag? Hiding out there in the cool water? Frightened, Teetiri looked around for help. Who could tell her if there was something wrong in the marsh?

One of the red crabs came running towards her unaware of her presence. Instinctively she jabbed down with her beak. picked up the crab and swallowed it. Wow. That felt goooood. She needed to eat another. Already she would soon be due back at the nest to relieve Teetiraa. She walked hesitantly towards the marsh, worried. There! There was another one of the red crabs. She jumped two steps and rushed towards it and grabbed it just as it had begun to dig down. Her sudden movement among the stones had dislodged a dung beetle that had been busy rolling up some mud. She grabbed the dung beetle without thinking. The dung beetle did not taste as good as the red crab but it would have to do. She desperately needed that nutrition. She was going to go back and sit at that nest and she needed all the energy she could get. She could not complain now. Or, be choosy at the marsh when the very next moment a predator could easily jump up at her. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 34 - The grassland is busy with birds

34

The grassland is busy with birds

Shikra and Shaheen flew out of their hiding places, disgusted at this widespread disturbance. Both birds of prey flew across the river to go and perhaps search for some other grassland. But there did not seem to be any sight of Bater and his family. Kotwal’s father flew down to Salonki and asked her to send some mynas to a distant bunch of rocks and tall grass. Salonki flew towards her sister’s group of twelve mynas who were busy gossiping about the good nesting spots in the old bungalow inside the forest. Salonki’s sister was explaining that the bungalow was not in a good condition, without anyone living in it, and had begun to break apart. It was a good spot to choose for several nests this season. It would also stay cool during the summer.

Salonki asked her sister and her group of mynas to go and continue with their gossip at the distant bunch of rocks and tall grass. The small flock of mynas went to the spot as directed and continued with their conversation about the bungalow in the forest. Salonki could still hear her sister explaining all the good nesting qualities that the damaged house seemed to possess. They needed new nesting spots, undisturbed ones, that would provide security and peace for the new flocks of mynas. The village indeed had been able to give them good nesting spots, but Guturgu and the blue rock pigeons had taken over all the nesting spots that the mynas had. The house crows were in control of the trees and their nesting spots near the village.

Salonki’s sister and her flock were busy making plans to shift to the bungalow in the forest for the coming breeding season. But all the conversation was what was helpful, thought Kotwal to himself. Teetiri was intelligent. She knew that all the mynas loved to chatter. And that the chatter was going to be helpful in disturbing Billi and now to search for Bater.  Meanwhile, Kotwal’s father accompanied by Salonki, flew to a tall tree near Salonki’s sister and her flock of mynas. The chatter was good, and it would disturb anybody who lived in this patch of the grassland.

Sure enough, from among the rocks, out came Naag’s sister, followed by two scorpions and some grasshoppers. Those grasshoppers looked tasty, thought Kotwal’s father and decided to go after them. He quickly asked Salonki to tell Kotwal to come over to this area to search for Bater, and flew after the grasshoppers. Angry but helpless at this instinctive gesture by Kotwal’s father, Salonki flew off to ask Kotwal to come over to join up with her to search for Bater. Kotwal’s father, in the meantime, kept darting in and out of the bushes, intent upon catching the grasshoppers. 

Teetiri protects the grassland - 36 - Teetiri takes charge of all the birds to fight the enemies in the grassland

36

Teetiri takes charge of all the birds to fight the enemies in the grassland

At the mention of Guturgu and Teetiri, Bater gathered courage and stepped out in the open. The other jungle bush quail were not to be seen. Possibly, Bater had asked them to stay hidden in the grass. Used to sitting out in in the open, Kotwal found all this secrecy to be quite silly. But to each bird, its own recipe for survival, Kotwal's father had once advised him. Never question other birds about their techniques and methods, he had been told. And most importantly, as Kotwal's mother had added,  never tease other birds about their methods.

Why was all this racket disturbing the grassland, Bater asked Kotwal. And why was Salonki and all the mynas moving around the peaceful and quiet grassland?  Why did Guturgu and Teetiri want his help? Was it to chase away Salonki and the mynas? Did she lose her eggs once again? Bater shot the questions in rapid-fire mode. Phoolchuki and Darzi were taken aback by Bater's anger. The jungle bush quail did not look like it had such courage. Phoolchuki had never thought of questioning Kotwal. Darzi always tried to avoid talking to Kotwal. The drongos were known to chase away Shikra, Shaheen or Kaawla Chacha. And here was the timid and shy Bater, posing questions to the dozen to Kotwal.

Kotwal did not lose his cool at the questions. He had once seen Bater argue with Teetiri on the wisdom of choosing good nesting spots on the ground. Both were ground-nesting birds, and while Teetiri tried to nest in the open, Bater built her nest in a quiet, hidden and secretive spot inside clumps of grass or inside bushes and amidst rocks. But unlike Teetiri, Bater was never to be seen out in the open grassland. It was strange indeed, thought Kotwal, that secretive nesters were also secretive, while open ground nesting birds somehow were very confident that their nests would not be seen.

Bater was secretive and shy, no doubt, but confident also. Perhaps that’s why Guturgu and Teetiri had so much faith in the jungle bush quail. Perhaps Kotwal did not know all there was to know from his high perch in the trees. Perhaps ground-nesting birds knew more about other ground-nesting birds. Kotwal flew down to perch on a tiny rock near Bater and began to tell him the entire story of Billi hiding in the marsh. Phoolchuki, Darzi, Bulbul and Salonki were perched on nearby branches. Kotwal’s father and the other drongos kept guard from all the high branches nearby while Salonki’s cousins kept their loud chatter going on nearby.