The Pied Stilt

It is not a barking puppy that you hear By the lake shore in the shallows very near To where you stand it is the black and white bird over there The long legged one the pied stilts are not rare In the bird World they are strangers to fame And pied stilts for them does seem an apt name Their stilt like legs by Nature ready made In the lake shallows all day long they wade They search for water plants and tiny water life to eat Such things that to their taste buds does taste sweet In the shallows from land a few metres away On nest of mud and reeds four green blotched eggs the female lay Tall frail looking birds often seen on water covered ground They make a yelping puppy sort of sound.