The Rainbow Lorikeet

The bully of the parrot world, the Rainbow Lorikeet To find one that was friendly, would be quite a feat They will fight all other parrots, those larger and the small They always fight among themselves, 'till no strangers left at all We have one that we call Grumpy, he shows not the slightest fear Not even for the human kind, we have invited here Touch his seed he'll get a finger, or maybe even worse He strikes so quick and by surprise, would make a Parson curse At times the ducks from our canal, come up and gather round Grumps rides them like a jockey, with the wildest screeching sound Flapping wings and biting neck, no mercy does he show Until they reach the water, only then does he let go Red Wattle birds can beat a crow, to Grumps they show defeat He has the violence of the devil, and a passion can't be beat One day he went a bit too far, a young Rosella killed Can't have that going on round here, a trap I had to build Sunflower seed sat on the plate, a line tied to the trip When he and his wife had entered, I gave the catch a slip Took the cage and put it in the boot, he would relocate Drive an hour down to the river, will release you here old mate They flew off did a circle, came back perched in a tree They stopped to say goodbye to us, or so it seemed to me They took off flew down the river, parting is such pain We knew now they had left us, never would see them again The trip home was a quiet one, gave us time to think How friends can come from anywhere, just have to make the link Six days later there in bed, a lorikeet heard call I recognised old Grumpy's sound, nearly made me bawl When I took him west I felt quite sure, that longitude would win Before we had a timepiece, it kept humans in a spin But now he's home and shows he's smart, no more homicidal He still does stick up for his dig, in charge and never idle Never held a grudge to us, even after that long trip Will perch upon my good wife's head, and rarely makes a slip Comes and sits down on my knee, much as if to say If we behave ourselves from now, any chance you'll let us stay True story of a lorikeet pair at sussex inlet nsw Australia