6
Teetiri
begins to leave the nest
Teetiri kept crawling, slowly, taking
care that her black and white head was not being visible above the greenish
brown and brownish green grasses. She reached a pile of stones, some brown,
some black, some red, some off-white and some brilliantly white. Here, in this
pile of stones, she raised her head and sat among some of the stones for some
time. She kept moving her head and raising it up and hiding it again. This sort
of moment, she knew, would be immediately noticed by the most alert of crows,
mongoose or foxes, if hiding nearby. They would wait till she left the pile of
stones and would immediately come around to investigate. Once she had settled
down in the pile of stones, she called out to Teetiraa. Softly, only once, in a
small gentle manner, "Treeet-Treeeeet".
That small gentle call from Teetiri
was a signal to Teetiraa that his partner was now comfortably settled
elsewhere. He stopped his dance, and began to walk about aimlessly, in large
widening circles, pretending to be searching for insects. At times, he did get
the still lazy beetle that had not yet hurried to hide away in the daylight. He
knew he would have to remember all these spots where lazy beetles would be
found easily. For when the eggs would hatch, he would need to be able to catch
these beetles in the early morning and late evening and bring them back to feed
the young lapwings at the nest. He began
to widen the circles of his walk towards the now unprotected nest. He had to
stay in visible distance, to ensure that there were no predators nearby, who
would perhaps stumble upon the nest by accident.
Once he was able to locate the nest, and could keep it in his view, he replied Teetiri's call, by another contact call, louder than Teetiri, but with the same gentle manner, "Treeet-Treeeeet-Did-you-do-it?" Teetiri could now understand that Teetiraa was able to see the nest and that he would keep a watch out for predators. She bobbed her head once or twice, while still remaining seated at the pile of stones, and made a short but crudely loud noise, "Piteeeweeet". That sound would now make all predators, seen and unseen, look at the stony pile. They would begin to search for the source of that sound. Once again, Teetiri bobbed her head up and down, and began to crawl away clumsily from the stones.
Once he was able to locate the nest, and could keep it in his view, he replied Teetiri's call, by another contact call, louder than Teetiri, but with the same gentle manner, "Treeet-Treeeeet-Did-you-do-it?" Teetiri could now understand that Teetiraa was able to see the nest and that he would keep a watch out for predators. She bobbed her head once or twice, while still remaining seated at the pile of stones, and made a short but crudely loud noise, "Piteeeweeet". That sound would now make all predators, seen and unseen, look at the stony pile. They would begin to search for the source of that sound. Once again, Teetiri bobbed her head up and down, and began to crawl away clumsily from the stones.
