Birdy Hide And Seek

“Come! Let's Play!” said the crow.

“I have to go home,” said the cuckoo.

"Quack, Quack,” the duck quacked, "What shall we play?"

"Only one last round of hide and seek, than we shall all go to roost," said the crow.

The crow, the duck, the woodpecker, the cuckoo, the pigeon, the parrot and the humming bird were a close group of friends. They played at the children's park every evening. Today was one such exciting day.

Understandably, the group selected the crow as the catcher.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6……..25” OK! Everybody Ready? I am coming said the crow opening his eyes.

“It is easy to find you all," said the crow. “Wait till I catch you," he screamed. But, even though he searched the whole park he could not find any of his friends.

“How do I find them," moaned the crow. “They are so silent now, even though screaming their lungs out every hour is their second nature!” he exclaimed.

His friend, Atul came walking by. “What happened," he asked. Crow replied that his friends were hiding and he was unable to locate them.

“Come crow," said Atul. “I have an encyclopedia that might help." Together they pored over the pages of the book.

Accordingly, the crow flew to the topmost floor of the housing complex. “Got you!” said he to the pigeon.

“How did you find me?” the pigeon asked.

“I saw your photo in Atul's colorful encyclopedia," said the crow. The caption below says pigeons sometimes build their nests on sunshades. “Easy! See!” “Come let’s find others," he said flying.

“Hey chatter box, come out! I can see you among the leaves," the crow cawed.

The surprised parrot stopped eating the juicy mango and looked up. “You parrots live on trees and are often camouflaged among green leaves of the mango tree," said the crow.

“Two gone, four more to go," said Atul. “We will find them too," he added.

“Let’s go to the pretty pond near our park," said the crow to the parrot and the Pigeon.

“Found you!” said the crow to the duck wading in the pond. “You look fresh!” Did you have a bath?”

“This must have been easy for you crow dear," said the duck. “It is general knowledge that ducks love water more than land."

A bee buzzed by and the group now swelled to five moved on. In the nursery there was a massive flower and sure enough partly hidden in the petals was the humming bird sipping nectar.

The humming bird caught at its game; flew backward and joined the group in search of two more hidden friends; the woodpecker and the cuckoo.

Continuous hammering sound gave away the woodpecker. “Stop pecking Woody!” said the crow.

The encyclopedia says woodpeckers find their food in barks of trees.

“Yes," said the woodpecker. “God has given me a long and strong beak to peck tree barks to find small insects hidden inside."

Now, finding the cuckoo proved difficult for the group. For a moment the crow paused. “The cuckoo…! What a fool I have been," said the crow.

I don’t need any encyclopedia to find him.”

The crow flew straight to his own nest and welcomed the rest of the group including Atul. “Here is the cuckoo! Always laying its eggs in my nest! Where else can he think of hiding?” said the crow laughing.

And so, all the friends had a hearty laugh. They were served tasty cookies, fruits and tea as the dusk set in on the park.

“Tomorrow is cuckoo's turn to be the catcher," said the crow. I will use my brain and hide in such a place that you cannot find me, even if you use the encyclopedia....” said the crow guffawing.