The Feathered Felon Of Honolulu Zoo...

My friend the Hammercop has been busying itself for days now building one of the largest nests I have ever seen…fully five feet across.

In the crotch of an old tree can be found just about every type of nest building material, all carefully woven together with meticulous attention to detail. Anything is a suitable ingredient for the Hammercop, and he can be very aggressive in his collecting habits.

A moment ago a Japanese lady and her daughter stopped and seated themselves on a wooden fence railing. They paused there, enjoying the diversity of bird life. They spoke to each other in rather hushed voices so as not to disturb the inhabitants or the serenity of the environment. Both women were impeccably dressed as if they had just come from Gucci's salon. The young girl reached up and removed her gold-rimmed sunglasses and carefully placed them on the railing beside her.

The Hammercop had been watching these visions of oriental affluence with a keen eye. The sunglasses offered an irresistible target and, with a confidence born of experience, this winged thief swooped up, grabbed the sunglasses and headed for the nest.

The young lady, in total astonishment, started yelling for the bird to return her glasses. At least I assume that's what she was saying. It could have been something a bit more graphic than that. Since I do not speak Japanese I could only guess at the content of her appeal.

About a minute had passed when the Hammercop re-appeared…. sans sunglasses…. and proceeded to squawk at the top of it's ample voice, all the time prancing back and forth in front of the two amazed women.

The ladies looked at each other in incredulous disbelief at the audacity of this feathery felon, and then suddenly broke out laughing. Several minutes later, after regaining their stoic Asian composure, they departed…taking with them a memorable story to tell their friends back in Japan.

As for me…. I am waiting to see a fledgling Hammercop decked out in his new gold-rimmed sunglasses.

Article Source: http://www.travelarticlelibrary.com

Copyright 2005: Thom Reece is a copywriter, marketing strategist, and web developer. He lives on the Big Island of Hawaii, and has written extensively about his adventures in Hawaii, the South Pacific, and Asia. www.kauhawaii.com

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