The Magpie with the bald head

 The Magpie with a bald head

By David Binelli ©2022 DM Binelli. All Rights Reserved                    1540 words

1 for sorrow

2 for joy

3 for a girl

4 for a boy

5 for silver

6 for gold

7 for a secret never to be told

Our story begins in a bird's nest high up in the branches of an enormous Oak tree.

It was a magpie’s nest built of twigs and small branches, lined with mud to keep the wind out, and lots of soft, curly moss to keep every magpie and the eggs warm.

In this nest, mother magpie had laid 8 small eggs. They were all pretty much the same size and blue in colour with olive-green spots.

She would sit on the eggs day and night, occasionally turning them with her beak so they all took turns being at the top next to her soft, warm feathers.

 The trouble was, there were 8 eggs in the nest and she kept missing the egg at the very bottom. That poor little egg hardly ever got turned and was stuck upside down all the time. The chick inside had all its weight on its head with its legs in the air…inside the egg.

It takes 18 or 19 days for magpie eggs to hatch, so mother magpie really needed the help of father magpie. He would leave the nest at first light and go in search of food. He would bring back caterpillars, beetles, flies, spiders and her favourite….big juicy earthworms.

On day 18, the first of the eggs started to hatch. At first, a tapping noise could be heard from inside the egg, and then a small crack appeared followed by a little head pushing its way out. One after another the young magpie chicks emerged and as they popped their little heads out into the big wide world, mother magpie named them….Malcolm, Martin, Matthew, Mabel, Maggie, Maisy, Margot and the very last…because this was the egg right at the bottom….Milo.

The nest was now completely full of young magpies….nearly overflowing in fact. 

Mother magpie and father magpie had their wings full just trying to feed all these hungry mouths. Back and forward they would fly, their beaks full to the brim with berries and seeds of all shapes and colours, insects and sometimes even a big juicy worm or caterpillar…father magpie’s favourite.

Although a magpie’s nest looks quite big from the outside, when you have eight baby magpies, mother magpie and father magpie all trying to find some space….it really is quite a squash to get every magpie in.

Milo was the last to hatch so he was the smallest and when he hatched, no magpie paid much attention. All his brothers and sisters were so busy fighting for space and making so much noise they hardly noticed he was there.

When father magpie or mother magpie returned to the nest with food after being out all day, all eight of the baby magpies would try to be the one at the top by forcing their wide-open beaks high into the air…they wanted to be first noticed so they would get the food. This meant that Milo, being the smallest, and usually the one at the bottom, got the least amount of food.

Over the coming weeks, one by one Milo’s brothers and sisters left the nest until only he was left. Although he missed them when they were gone, he liked being on his own because now he had all the food to himself and he had space….lots of space.

One evening, not long before it was dark, father magpie returned to the nest with a big squidgy blackberry in his beak. As he looked down to give it Milo he noticed Milo was bald….not a feather on his head.

How long had he been like this he thought? Why hadn’t he seen it before? “Mother magpie, have you seen Milo,” he said with a sideways glance back at Milo “He doesn’t have a feather on his head.” 

“Yes, I know,” she said with a smile on her beak, “He hatched like that…didn’t you notice? I quite like it…don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.” bellowed father magpie “A magpie should have a full head of feathers….like every other magpie.”….and he flew off into the evening sky with a loud flap of his wings muttering to himself as he disappeared.

Milo looked at mother magpie with his big black eyes. “What’s wrong with father magpie mother… doesn’t he like me?”

“Of course he likes you Milo” She whispered as she put her wings around him “He was just a bit shocked….with no feathers on your head you look different and some magpies don’t like things to be different….they like everything to be the same and father magpie is one of those magpies that doesn’t like change….don’t worry he’ll be alright when he comes back.”

Mother magpie pulled Milo close and held him tight as they snuggled down in the lovely warm nest for the night.

The following morning was a windy, blustery sort of a day. Father magpie was coming backwards and forward as usual to the nest with food but he wasn’t giving the food to Milo….he passed it to mother magpie and she fed Milo….Father magpie didn’t want to look at Milo because of his bald head….he knew it wasn’t Milo’s fault….but why did he have to be different….what would all the other magpies say?

This went on for the next couple of days and Milo was very upset….although he tried not to show it.

One morning after Milo had eaten his breakfast of a big, wriggly, juicy earthworm washed down with a squidgy blackberry, mother magpie said “Why don’t you go and play on the branches, it’s a lovely day….the sunshine will do you good.”

“Ok, “said Milo pushing his way out of the nest and into the glorious warm sunshine.

Father magpie was in the nest with mother magpie who gave him one of her looks with her eyes squinted tightly together.

“Milo is very upset at you….you ignore him….he is a magpie just like every other magpie….it hurts him that you won’t talk to him.”

“I know….I know” said father magpie with sadness in his voice. He hopped outside onto the branch where Milo was playing and flew off flapping his wings as hard as he could….flying this way and that through the trees.

He seemed to fly around for hours thinking all the time of what mother magpie had said….he knew he was wrong….but what should he do? 

It was nearly lunchtime and he was starting to feel peckish. Below him, he could see a park. It was a great place to find something to eat because humans throw away anything and everything….they are very untidy animals.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and as usual, the human’s park was bustling with lots of things going on….humans playing with their children, dogs running about chasing balls, machines going up and down cutting the grass and as father magpie looked around he saw there were many other animals in the park too.

Now….he had never noticed this before because he was usually too busy looking for food, but all around him there were animals….birds, many different birds…sparrows, blackbirds, robins, wrens, crows. There were squirrels foraging on the ground, foxes knocking over bins to get to the food inside, and dogs playing with humans.

Then it hit him like flying beak-first into a tree....all the animals were different, completely different…different sizes, shapes, colours, the noises they made, the way they moved….everything about them was different…..different was good.

Excitedly he leapt into the air flapping his wings and chattering….that’s what magpies do…if you listen very carefully when you see a magpie sometimes you will hear them making a chattering noise, it’s their way of saying “WHAHAY…LOOK OUT HERE I GO.”

Father magpie wanted to get back as fast as he could so he took a shortcut across the human’s motorway which any magpie will tell you is dangerous but he wanted to get back to his Oak tree as soon as he could. Over the noisy, dirty, smelly motorway he flew, across the fields and there in the distance was his tree….not long now.

There, playing on the branches by the nest was Milo. Father magpie landed with such a thump the branches and leaves shook as if they were being blown around in a storm.

Milo spun around and there in front of him was father magpie.

“Milo, please forgive me” he gasped, still out of breath from his dash home “I’ve been a foolhardy, featherbrained magpie and I’m sorry.”

“I saw you were different with your bald head and all I could think of was myself and what other magpies would say….I now realise being different is good….being different is what makes the world go round.”  

Mother magpie had come out to see what all the noise was about and she started to cry. She walked slowly up to Milo and father magpie, put her wings around them both and said as mothers do “I love you…you silly two.”

So….the next time you see a magpie, just look very closely….if it’s got no feathers on its head it just might be Milo….Milo the bald-headed Magpie.

The End