Once Seen And Once Heard

Once seen and once heard you never again can get them wrong Gray butcherbirds have such a beautiful song Of dark head gray wings and tail and under of light gray With hooked bills on thorns and spikes they impale their prey In straggly cup shaped nest of twigs on a sapling tree The female lay brown dotted green eggs of five, four or three At nesting time on the natural aggression they are born with they do not hold back Even humans who venture into their territory they will attack Their beautiful bubbling like songs so melodious and clear Make them so distinctive and a joy for to hear Slightly bigger than a magpie lark with ways of their own To south eastern Australian birders gray butcherbirds are well known With beautiful songs so melodious and clear In woodlands and treed parklands them one often does hear.