The little Mynah woke early and sat on a wire, waiting for his mother to find some food to feed him. Dawn was breaking and bird songs filled the air. He was still very sleepy. He opened his eyes with great difficulty and looked around. Then, a stranger caught his eyes. A bird with colourful [...]

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The little Mynah woke early and sat on a wire, waiting for his mother to find some food to feed him. Dawn was breaking and bird songs filled the air. He was still very sleepy. He opened his eyes with great difficulty and looked around.

Then, a stranger caught his eyes. A bird with colourful feathers; blue, green, brown… he even had a few shiny feathers. He was walking on the dry leaves, as if he was inspecting around. The little Mynah knew all his neighbours. But he had never seen this bird before. “Maybe I’m still dreaming,” thought the little Mynah, “he looks too colourful to be real”.

But the little Mynah knew he was not dreaming when the strange bird came near and whistled. Then he started turning around the dry leaves with his beak. “Who are you?” asked the little Mynah. It was only then that the stranger saw him. “I haven’t seen you before!” said the little Mynah. “I haven’t seen you before either. You must have hatched late this year!” said the stranger. “What a strange thing to say,” thought the little Mynah, “He’s the stranger,
not me!”

“You talk like you’ve been here before!” said the little Mynah.
“Yes, I have!” replied the stranger.
“Where are you from? Are you from the next village?” asked the little Mynah.
“No,” replied the stranger and shook his head.
“Then, are you from the town?”
“No,” replied the stranger again.
“Then, are you from the other end of the country?” asked the little Mynah.
“No. I’m from across the sea!” said the stranger.

The little Mynah thought the stranger was very funny. Surely this had to be a joke. What kind of bird flew over the sea? Maybe someone big and strong like Mr. Eagle, but not such a tiny one as this. This stranger was hardly any bigger than himself. And he was only a little Mynah that hatched a few weeks back.

The little Mynah laughed so hard that he almost fell off the wire he was sitting on. “Flew across the sea, Ha… Ha…” he laughed. Just then his mother came with some food and fed him. Then she too saw the stranger. “Well hello, Mr. Pitta. Nice to see you! Hope you had a pleasant journey,” she said. “Yes I did, thank you very much,” said the stranger in his different accent.

“Do you know him?” asked the little Mynah in surprise. “Yes, Mr. Indian Pitta is a regular visitor every year!” said his mother. “But he said he flew across the sea,” stuttered the little Mynah. “Yes he does, every single year, around this time,” his mother answered. “He comes from another country!”

By now the little Mynah had so many questions to ask. “But why do you fly this far and come here every year? If you like it so much here then why don’t you stay? Aren’t you tired flying all that way?” Both the stranger and the little Mynah’s mother laughed. “So many questions, little one,” said the stranger, “I’ll answer them all!”

“I’m from a country that gets cold during the end of the year, winter. Food becomes hard to find and it’s very hard to live in the cold. So I visit here and stay here till winter is over. And then I fly back home!” said Mr. Indian Pitta. “Are you the only one who comes all this way?” asked the little Mynah.
“Oh no,” laughed Mr. Indian Pitta, “Thousands of different birds fly to warmer climate during this time.

I’m only one of them.”
“When winter time comes near, the days become shorter and the nights longer. The weather gets colder and colder.
So before all this happens, we must eat well and become strong to get ready for our long flights!” said Mr. Indian Pitta. “I can imagine how hard that must be,” said the little Mynah. He could still only fly a very small distance.

“Yes, it is very tiring. Some of us don’t even make it,” said Mr. Indian Pitta sounding very sad. “But how do you find your way here and back home? The sky is so big and endless,” said the little Mynah. “We have routes which we follow every year. When we follow them, it’s not hard to find our way!” replied Mr. Pitta.
Just then a white bird with a black head came flying and sat on a nearby branch. The little Mynah hadn’t seen him before either. His long white tail was like a long ribbon.

“Who is this?” asked the little Mynah staring at the bird’s snow-white feathers. “That is Mr. Fly-catcher, and that one over there is Mr. Bee-eater,” said
Mr. Indian Pitta pointing at another bird sitting on a TV antenna. “The neighbourhood sure looks colourful with all of them!” said the little Mynah feeling happy that he got to meet all of these foreigners from other countries. “Now remember,” said the little Mynah’s mother, “be nice and welcoming to them. They are all visitors and we must make them feel at home.” “Yes, I will,” said the little Mynah and turned towards Mr. Indian Pitta, “but I feel sad that you all will leave,
once winter is over in your countries!” “Ah, don’t you worry little one. You can count on us to visit you every year, around this time for sure!” said
Mr. Indian Pitta with a twinkle in his eye.

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