Mickey Mockingbird
Mickey Mockingbird lived in the city. He was the size of a tennis ball, and was looking for a lovely lady bird to be his mate. He would need to sing more songs than the other young male birds.
He sang and whistled and even made sounds like the rusty hinge on the garden shed. He made a sound like a telephone ringing and the lady ran inside to answer the phone. He sang day and night, but no lady bird came to listen.
The man in the house shouted at him when he sang at night. He woke the baby. He barked like the dog and caused the dog to bark.
Didn’t they know he was singing for his lady love?
Grandma and the little girl sat on the porch and listened. They loved his songs. They laughed when he cackled like a hen.
Each day Mickey added more sounds and songs to his concert. He could sing fifty songs now, but some of the others could sing two hundred. He would have to continue to learn more.
He had serenaded six lady birds already, but none had wanted to be his mate. He would sing day and night until he found the right lady bird. It was March and if he was to have a family he need to find a mate soon. There were nests to be built. Not just one, but maybe five or six. He would continue to build until she found the one she wanted to lay her eggs in.
It would take twelve days to hatch the eggs and twelve more days before the babies were old enough to survive on their own. This had to be done during warm weather. Mickey was working against time and time was running out.
With Mother Nature urging him on he continued his song day and night. The man grew more and more angry because of lose of sleep. He tried ear plugs. He slept with the T.V. on. He slept with his IPod in his ears, but nothing worked. Mickey’s songs could still be heard.
The man knew that Mockingbirds are very territorial. He made a plan. Maybe if Mickey thought there was another male mockingbird in the yard he would leave. The man recorded Mickey’s song that night and the next night he played the recording for Mickey to hear.
Hurray! It worked. Mickey moved a few blocks down the street to a park. There was no man there to shout at him. There were a lot of big trees for nest building. Soon a lovely lady mockingbird heard his song and wanted to be his mate. She found the nest she liked and laid four eggs. Twelve days later four baby mockingbirds were hatched. Mickey now spent his energy in hunting and feeding his babies. He had little time for singing.
The man was happy. Mickey was happy. Grandma and the little girl looked forward to next year when the Mockingbirds would sing for them again.
