Bird Song [poem by C. J. Dennis]

[Editor: This poem by C. J. Dennis was published in A Book for Kids, 1921 (page 108). This book has four poems entitled “Bird Song”, on pages 48, 63, 108, and 114.]

Bird Song

I detest the Carrion Crow!
(He’s a raven, don’t you know?)
He’s a greedy glutton, also, and a ghoul,
And his sanctimonious caw
Rubs my temper on the raw.
He’s a demon, and a most degraded fowl.

I admire the pert Blue-wren
And his dainty little hen —
Though she hasn’t got a trace of blue upon her;
But she’s pleasing, and she’s pretty,
And she sings a cheerful ditty;
While her husband is a gentleman of honour.

I despise the Pallid Cuckoo,
A disreputable “crook” who
Shirks her duties for a lazy life of ease.
I abhor her mournful call,
Which is not a song at all
But a cross between a whimper and a wheeze.

Source:
C. J. Dennis. A Book for Kids, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, [1921], page 108