11
Darzi
says that Kokila was responsible
Darzi was getting impatient. He knew
what the problem was about. This was something new to Dominga and thus was not
easily understood or accepted. He called Teetiri and Phoolchuki aside and spoke
to them in a whisper. This was not something that was Dominga or Domingi’s
fault, Darzi said. This was the evil Kokila at work. The Koel was a lazy bird,
and therefore his partner, Kokila went about removing one egg from unguarded
nests and replacing them with one of her own. Koel would never spend time or
trouble in constructing his own nest. Kokila perhaps did not trust Koel to feed
her at her nest if she did decide to sit on her own nests. And thus, Kokila went
around searching for nests where she could hide her eggs.
Teetiri was shocked. She was learning
about this for the first time in her life. As far as she knew, there were no
nest raiders who replaced eggs of ground nesting birds. Phoolchuki had once heard
about nest raiders on tree-nesting birds from one of her aunts who had had to
raise a young Kokila chick in her nest.
The Kokila chick soon grew to be four times the size of her aunt, but
she continued to feed it and take care of it, with all the love that only a
mother can give. Her aunt had argued with her sisters and brothers that after
all the Kokila chick was also an unprotected young bird, and if she could give
food and love, and make sure that it flew away safely, she would be happy to do
so. Phoolchuki’s father had not agreed but her mother had supported it. She was
also a mother, wasn’t she? Who else would know a mother’s love, she had said.
Darzi said that the same incident had
occurred with one of his aunts in the big fruit orchard that bordered their
grassland. The village on the other side of the fruit orchard had many large
tamarind, mango and banyan trees that were full of these evil Koel and Kokila
birds. They came out from there, searching in the fruit orchards, the
grasslands, the riverbanks and the forests. They searched for unprotected
nests, that already had some eggs laid in them, and replaced one egg with one
of their own. Did they do it with ground nesting birds, Teetiri asked, worried
that it may happen with their nest when both Teetiri and Teetiraa left it
unprotected? No, No, Darzi said, it was only with tree-nesting birds. The
colours of the Kokila’s egg were such that it would easily be seen if left
exposed to the sun, in the open grassland, if left in a ground-nest.
Darzi advised Phoolchuki and Teetiri
that Dominga must not be told that the egg belonged to Kokila. For otherwise
Dominga may go and destroy it. Teetiri also agreed. One egg belonging to
Dominga and Domingi was in any case destroyed and lost forever. One should not
destroy another egg, though it belonged to another bird, just because one had
been destroyed. Phoolchuki also nodded in agreement. Yes, she said, just
because it did not belong to you, it did not mean that you had the right to
destroy it. Better that Phoolchuki or Teetiri went and told Domingi separately.
Let Dominga not know. But what should they tell Dominga? Darzi told Phoolchuki
and Teetiri not to worry. He would handle it himself.
