3
How
the eggs were lost once before
He was once again thinking too much
about the other birds, thought Teetiraa, scolding himself. Teetiri, Kotwal and
Phoolchuki had warned him about this dangerous habit. He had to pay attention
to the fact that both Teetiri and Teetiraa had to be responsible to their
duties at the nest and the newly laid clutch of two eggs. Teetiraa was supposed
to help Teetiri in guarding their nest very carefully. There were enemies
everywhere. The grassland was not as innocent as it seemed to be at the
beginning. Their enemies were very clever and could hide anywhere in the open
grassland. They could not afford to make a mistake all over again. Two seasons
ago, Teetiri had lost a clutch of three eggs when an alert Kaawla, the crow,
had seen Teetiraa raise his head at the nest to watch Dhaman slither by at a
distance.
Kaawla had waited quietly, hidden in
the babool tree, unseen by even the usually very alert and vigilant Kotwal.
Teetiri had to prevent Dhaman from locating the nest. Kaawla had flown straight
to the nest at the very moment that Teetiri had stood up to walk away
stealthily. Before anyone had realised the danger, Kaawla had broken all the
three eggs and eaten them up. Teetiri had got very angry and flew straight at
Kaawla and tried to hit him. Kotwal had also followed to support Teetiri.
But the damage had been done. Teetiraa
had gone back to the nest to find that all the eggs were broken and the shell
pieces lay scattered. Teetiri was inconsolable at that time. Kotwal, Bulbul and
Phoolchuki had talked them through their days of sorrow. They had been good
friends, thought Teetiraa. They had been very helpful in convincing Teetiri
that it was not her fault. Kotwal explained to her that there were several
times that Phoolchuki had lost her entire nest when the local villagers came to
cut tree branches for use as fuelwood. Phoolchuki built her nests with great
difficulty. It took her several days to construct it and had to suffer the loss
several times in each season. Teetiri had taken courage from Kotwal and
Phoolchuki and agreed with Teetiraa to try once again to grow a family of young
redwattled lapwings in the grassland.
