On Seeing Southern Figbirds

In the Cascade Gardens in Broadbeach i have seen A bird in body feathers olive green And red patch around eyes and darkened head and face The southern figbird native to the place. And with dark brown wings and breast of mottled gray His wife perched near less than a foot away A plainer bird with a different sort of look For mavis she might easily be mistook. I watched as ripened wildering figs they eat I plucked one and crushed it between my teeth I did not swallow quickly spat it out As it left a sour and foul taste in my mouth. I think of hunger i would rather die Than eat those figs the figbirds so enjoy The figs that to their taste buds taste so sweet Which i found quite impossible to eat In the Cascade Gardens in Broadbeach i see The Figbirds on their home ground living free And i a man from Land beyond the sea Felt like a stranger on their territory.