48
Bulbul wonders about the plan
Up above in the babool tree, Bulbul
wondered as to what this plan was all about. He had thought that he had
understood it when Kotwal had warned Bater twice, at the very instant that
Billi had pounced. Bater had disappeared in the grass in a very rapid flash,
the moment that Kotwal had changed his call from a low single syllable to a
harsh screech. But Kotwal was not to be seen now. How Bater
would escape
Billi this time, Bulbul wondered. Phoolchuki kept moving from branch to branch
and warbling in a low voice. Just as Billi stopped crawling and crouched to
prepare for the jump, Phoolchuki stood still on a low branch and changed her
call to a longer melodious note.
Billi had begun to make the jump when
Phoolchuki changed her call. But Billi had not noticed the change as he was
absolutely engrossed in trying to catch Bater. Billi landed once again on the
marsh ground, but this time on very wet and soggy soil. He tried to get up but
seemed to be stuck in the slush. He struggled and somehow pulled himself out of
the soggy and slushy mud patch. He searched the spot to see if he had caught
the jungle bush quail. He had failed once again. This was getting to be very
irritating. He was usually very good at catching birds in the village, when he
hid himself in the trees and bushes. What was puzzling was that he could not
seem to catch the most frightened looking bird in the grassland. How did that
jungle bush quail do that? How did he manage to escape his lunge and at the
very next instant disappear and reappear four or six feet away?
Bulbul realised now that while Billi
kept chasing Bater around the marsh, Phoolchuki, Darzi and Kotwal were moving
around in the low babool branches. Kotwal stayed inside the thick canopy,
unseen but coordinating Phoolchuki and Darzi. They were signalling back and
forth to Bater and his family, indicating which way Billi was moving about, and
where he had to be taken. Bulbul began to assemble the plan as he understood it
at the moment. Teetiri had probably identified one bird to warn Bater at the
very moment that Billi would make his jump. The birds in the grassland had also
apparently decided that Kotwal would warn Bater for two jumps while Phoolchuki
and Darzi would also alternately warn the jungle bush quail. Salonki and her
mynas had surrounded the marsh along the sides facing the grassland. The
unguarded side of the marsh was the one leading towards the village.
