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Need a common plan
We need to have a common plan. We need
to stay united and to be able to plan together, Kotwal said. Salonki’s partner
kept nodding and shaking her head all the time, so Kotwal did not know whether
she understood or not. Tired of talking to Salonki’s partner, Kotwal flew to
some higher branches, so he could be alone.
Meanwhile, Teetiri kept wandering
around the grassland at the edge of the marsh, feeding upon ants, beetles and
the new emerging caterpillars. Teetiraa was away sitting at the nest, in a very
irritated mood, with the hot sun blazing away overhead. Once in a while, a
wandering ant and beetle ended up being picked up by Teetiraa, while still
sitting at the nest. He had to be careful not to create any visible movement,
any sudden jab or attack that could be seen by a predator. It was like an
unending game of patience. He had to wait until the insect was actually within
jabbing distance of his beak without having to stretch too far.
Phoolchuki was chattering away with
Darzeee at her nest. Both these birds needed to be very resourceful when it
came to building their nests. While one stitched leaves to make her nest, the
other, Phoolchuki, had to weave and mix and interweave. The nest comprised a
very tiny mass of fibres that came together to make a small indistinguishable
ball. Both Phoolchuki and Darzeee had a lot to gossip about. They were mainly
concerned about using good material. Good flexible fibre was very difficult to
get for nesting material nowadays.
They were discussing the usefulness of
using some of the cotton-waste that had been left lying near the water pump at
the groundnut farm close by. Darzeee informed Phoolchuki that she had got very
angry and upset when Darzi had brought the cotton-waste for lining the nest.
Later she had found that it was very strong, and she could also pull out the
fibres and use it for stitching the leaves that held her nest together. Darzeee also invited Phoolchuki to try all
her strength and pull the fibre. It would not break, Darzeee told Phoolchuki.
