ON THIS PAGE YOU CAN READ SHORT STORIES ABOUT BIRDS.   YOU CAN SEND IN YOUR OWN SHORT STORIES TO BE PUBLISHED ON THIS PAGE .   JUST EMAIL THEM TO ME.   THE STORIES BELOW ARE ONES THAT I HAVE WRITTEN.

You can read my latest online story 'The rescue of Faye' by clicking on the picture:

TIKI'S TOUR

Kea lived high on a mountain range.   When he wasn't looking for food he was looking for fun.   One day in Summer he saw a campsite with tent and backpack.   Kea flew down to investigate and was soon ripping open the backpack with his sharp beak and claws.   The contents spilled out onto the ground and Kea thought it was great fun. Suddenley something caught his attention. Something green and shiny. Kea tugged at a cord and pulled a jade pendant from the bag.  He flew off to a dry riverbed close by and began playing with the strange object. Finally, though, he got bored and flew off, leaving the pendant lying amongst the stones and rocks.

Summer turned to Autumn, followed by Winter.   Snow covered the mountain range, burying the pendant in a thick cloak of soft white.   Then came Spring, bringing sun and rain.   The snow melted.   The riverbed, where the pendant lay, turned into a fast flowing stream.   Rocks and stones tumbled in the rushing water, and the pendant was carried downstream.   After several weeks it had been carried to where the stream fed into a fast flowing mountain river.   The river was filled with large boulders and rocks.   The pendant tumbled against them until it finally lodged beneath one.   There it lay, caught in the wild river, dark and deep.   Then one sunny day Whio the blue duck found it while searching for food beneath the rocks in the rapids.   Whio swam to the surface with the pendant but soon found it too big and too hard to eat and she dropped it back into the water.   Caught in the flow again the pendant was gradually carried down the river.   Past rocks and tree roots and fish the pendant travelled, arriving on a rainy day in a lake at the base of the mountain.  Here the pendant would have stayed, lost to the world, if not for Papanga the little black scaup.   Diving deep amongst the lakeweed for food Papanga spied the still shiny pendant, taking it with him as he bobbed to the surface of the lake.   He swam with it to the sandy lakeside.

"This isn't any use, it's far too hard to eat!" he said and left it where it lay on the lake edge.   It wasn't there very long before it was found by a passing Weka.   She was very inquisitive and took it for her collection of bits and bobs that she had found.   Weka's new treasure lay among her collection until one warm, bright day in mid -summer.   Karoro the black-backed gull was flying past when he saw the pendant glinting in the sun.  He flew down to investigate, sure it must be something good to eat.   "This looks tasty" he thought, grabbing the pendant in his beak.   He flew off with it to a nearby beach to enjoy this new meal in peace and quiet.   But no matter how he tried he could not swallow the hard green object.   Finally, in total frustration, he picked up the pendant and flew off inland, the cord dangling down from his beak.   He flew over hills and valleys and was just about to drop the annoying thing in a raupo swamp when Kahu the harrier saw him.  Kahu had babies in her nest in the swamp and she did not want nosy Karoro near them.   She chased him away, flying so close that Karoro dropped the pendant.   As it fell the open cord slipped over Kahu's head as she flew beaneath Karoro.   Kahu had no idea what it was that now hung heavily from her neck and she flew off twisting in the air trying to loose the strange object.   

As all this was happening it was being watched.   Watched from the top of a tree by two rascally magpies.   They were fascinated by the weird thing that now hung from Kahu's neck so up they flew, heading straight toward Kahu.   Taken by surprise Kahu began to fly higher.   Higher and higher she flew.   Over farms, over forest.   On up over mountain bush and herbfields, leaving the magpies far behind.   Twisting and turning she tumbled through the sky, the mountain range spread out far below her.   Suddenly the cord slipped off Kahu's head and the pendant fell to the ground. It landed, unharmed, in a dry riverbed, high on the mountain range.

One day, not long after, two trampers came to the dry riverbed to rest.   Something glittered in the sunlight and it caught the attention of one of the trampers.   She picked it up.   "Hey look!  It's the jade pendant I lost here last summer.   It must have been laying here all the time".

BIRDS IN THIS STORY

THE NESTING HOLE

It was spring and the birds were looking for homes for their families.  Kotare, the kingfisher had found a lovely, cosy hole near the top of an old beech tree.    "You can't nest there," said Morepork.   "I want that hole for MY nest."   "No," said Kakariki."   "I want that hole for MY nest."   Titipounamu the rifleman said, "It's far too small for all of you.   I'll have that hole for MY nest.   I'll line it with soft feathers for my eggs."   "Too small!" said Kaka.   "I will soon make it bigger with my sharp beak, and I shall have it for MY nest."   They all wanted the cosy hole in the old beech tree, but only one of them could have it.   What could they do?   Suddenley the wind, tired of listening to them argue, decided to do something.   He took a deep breath and he blew, and BLEW, and BLEW.   He blew through the hills.   He blew through the trees.He blew until the top of the old beech tree fell down.   As the tree fell, holes appeared in its huge trunk.   "Look," said kaka, "here is a big hole for me at the top."   "And here is a nice, deep hole for me," said Kotare the kingfisher.   Morepork said quietly, "Oh, this hole is for me and my family."   "I'll have this little hole, hidden in the moss," said Titipounamu the rifleman.   And Kakariki chose a lovely, snug hole in the middle of the trunk.   "Now, is everyone happy?" said the wind, as he settled down to a gentle, spring breeze.

Birds in this story

KAKA     KAKARIKI     KINGFISHER (Kotare)    MOREPORK    RIFLEMAN (Titipounamu)

/font>

---

Copyright(c) 2006 Janet Marshall. All rights reserved.
myid@myhost.com

nbsp;