Second Part: The Bride

Teaneck, Bergen County, NJ

One day I heard him chirping, mono-tone, short, intermittent, he was on a branch. I saw him fall to the ground with that soft elegant landing, he was picking at the tree and then left. The next day the same thing and so for several days, then his long chirp was no longer heard, but he kept coming to eat almost punctually at the same time two or three times a day. I am not an expert in avian ethology, so I did not know why that behavior, until at last his secret was revealed. One morning as he routinely did, he reached the grass, chirping as always and a moment later landed another bird similar to him with slightly different colors, I mean quite different, although she retained some red areas and their species characteristic red beak it stung in the grass, walked a little apart and quickly disappeared, almost immediately our protagonist disappeared.

Next: The Couple