How the grey got it's red tail - Cute story :D

[Roseanna]

Just found this cute story, and wanted to share it with you, in case you hadn't read it already

 

 

How the African Grey got his tail feathers

Once there was a forest of many colors. The trees were green. They were

gold and orange. They were yellow and red in their season. In the

fawning time the trees bloomed. They were hung with ropes of flowers!

They were green altars garlanded with color! The smell of the flowers

was a prayer to heaven.

 

The flowers were many colors, too. They were white and apricot. They

were pink and plum. They were blue and yellow and purple and bronze. The

flowers were courted by bees. They came in colors, too. They were yellow

and black; fuzzy and brown.

 

Spiders sat in the flowers and waited for the bees. They were even more

colorful than the flowers! Some spiders had eight bright green eyes

each! Some had blue eyes. They wore fine suits of many colors and

striped stockings on their eight legs.

 

Butterflies came to drink from the flowers with their long tongues.

Yellow butterflies drank from blue morning glories. Blue butterflies

drank from red hibiscus. Giant green moths flew about in crowds,

gathering for a dance. All the butterflies carried the rainbow with them

all through the forest.

 

After the bees had visited the flowers the trees made fruit. Clusters

and clusters of fruits hung on the trees. Purple it hung, and red.

Yellow and orange. And palest green blushed with pink. Soon the forest

smelled of too-ripe fruit. Then the flies came. Flies flew from tree to

tree carrying blue and green with them.

 

Over the forest the sky stretched. It was a blue cloth with a yellow

circle. At night it was an azure box full of diamonds! But the most

colorful thing in the forest was its birds. Bright among the branches

they sang. Living dots of color they climbed. Shimmering pallets of

nature they flew among the shadows. The birds had all the colors of the

trees. They had all the colors of the flowers, too. They had all the

colors of the bees, the butterflies, and the spiders. And God was very

pleased with His creation when He watched His birds twirling below. God

loved His living top spinning in the forest He had made.

 

But a Little Gray Parrot lived in the forest. She alone had no color.

Even the gray doves had bright red feet! But the Little Gray Parrot had

gray feet. Her beak was gray, and her wings were gray. All her feathers

were gray, too.

 

One day the Little Gray Parrot looked out of her gray eyes at all the

colors spread in the forest below. She looked up at the blue sky, pale

and dark. And she thought, "I am the only one in the whole forest that

has no color. God is pleased by the prayers of the fruiting trees. He is

pleased by the beautiful butterflies and bees. How can I ever give Him

anything if I have no color?"

 

The Little Gray Parrot thought about it all day. She dreamed about it

all night. She was still thinking about it the next morning when the

Jungle Bird woke her up.

 

"The Jungle Bird is very beautiful," said the Little Gray Parrot. "He

wears a green shawl over his red velvet vest. He wears gold buttons and

sharp orange lace-up boots. I will go to him and ask him to give me some

of his color." And the Little Gray Parrot got her little red wagon. "I

will put all the colors he gives me in my wagon and bring them home,"

she said. "Then I will be so beautiful heaven will notice me!"

 

So the Little Gray Parrot started walking toward the sound of the Jungle

Bird who was still singing to the sun. She pulled her little red wagon

behind her through the forest.

 

S oon she came to a tree stump. The Jungle Bird was standing on the

stump calling to his brother in the sky. He stamped his orange feet on

his stage and rose up very tall. He called so loud his shiny red wattles

shook. He opened his yellow eyes very wide, and crowed. Wrapped in his

cloak of black, purple, green and gold he sang, "I! Me, me, me, I! I!

Me, me, me, I!"

 

When the Jungle Bird stopped singing the Little Gray Parrot said,

"Jungle Bird, you sing a very beautiful song. You have the color of the

sky in your tail. The soles of your feet shine like the sun. Your red

head glistens with the warm color. Your throat is wrapped in green. I am

a very plain parrot. Please give me some of your colors so I can be

beautiful, too."

 

But the Jungle Bird only rose up on his long orange toes. He opened his

yellow beak tipped with black. And he sang, "I! Me, me, me, I! I! Me,

me, me, I!"

 

The Little Gray Parrot stamped her small gray foot. But the Jungle Bird

continued to sing his song to the sun. Finally, the Jungle Bird shook

his head to rearrange his wattles and jumped down from his perch. The

Little Gray Parrot fluffed her gray feathers. She said, "Jungle Bird.

You sing a very conceited song."

 

The Jungle Bird preened a blue feather in his tail. Then he preened a

green one. Then a bronze. Finally he answered the Little Gray Parrot.

"Do you think so?" was all he said.

 

"Yes," said the Little Gray Parrot. "For you are singing about

yourself."

 

The Jungle Bird walked to the Little Gray Parrot. He circled her and

looked at her empty wagon. He pecked on the wagon. It rang like a

cymbal. He stood very tall and near to the Little Gray Parrot, and she

began to regret her words.

 

But the Jungle Bird was a king in his realm, and he simply said, "Little

Gray Parrot, my song is about me. I wake the sun up every morning so it

will shine on men. I sing about my place on the earth. I remind man of

his place, too. We are all so high. If man knew his own worth, the

forest would be full of my song every morning! Every throat would cry

out, singing my song."

 

The Little Gray Parrot looked at the Jungle Bird. She knew what he said

was true. The Little Gray Parrot bowed her head and said, "Jungle Bird,

everyone says how beautiful you are. And it is true. Your brilliant tail

sweeps the ground mixing the rainbow with dust. But, your true beauty is

in reminding man that he is not dust. You rise while it is yet dark to

do this service. Please forgive me."

 

The Jungle Bird clucked slightly in his throat and said, "I have

promised my hens some grubs today, so I must go." And he left. Mother's

green arms embraced him, and he was gone. The Little Parrot said, "I

came to beg some beautiful colors from the Jungle Bird to take home. But

his true beauty is in his service. I will put that in my wagon instead."

And she did, and pulled the little red wagon behind her down the path.

 

The Little Gray Parrot made quite a sound pulling her red wagon through

the dry leaves! From high up in the trees the Scarlet Parrot looked down

to see what all the noise was about. "Hello!" he called. Then he

mimicked the wagon wheels. And he made the sound of the crunching

leaves. He was so clever the Little Gray Parrot stopped on the path. She

listened carefully for her echo. But she heard nothing. As soon as she

started to pull her red wagon again, she heard the Scarlet Parrot

mocking her high up in the trees.

 

"Scarlet Parrot! I was looking for you," said the Little Gray Parrot.

"You are very beautiful. Your color is of fire, red and gold, yellow and

brightness! Your eyes are ringed in silver, and your wings are cobalt

arrows! Please, may I have some of your colors? Then I will be

beautiful, too."

 

But the Scarlet Parrot simply mimicked the monkey jabbering in the tree.

He babbled like the brook, and roared like a chainsaw! He sang like all

the birds, at once! He barked like a dog and growled like a tiger!

 

The Little Gray Parrot stamped her small gray foot. "You are very rude,"

she said. "Why do you make such a fuss, and repeat everything you hear?

What good is that?"

 

But the Scarlet Parrot laughed like a girl child. He cried like a

piglet. Finally he said, "I record everything in the forest. Man must

work hard all day and night. He does not have time to listen to the

birds singing. He does not have time to remember what dangers lie here.

I record all these things for the time man will ask me for them. When he

is sad, I will sing like the nightingale-even at noon! When he is

careless, I will speak in the tiger's tongue to make him wary."

 

The Little Gray Parrot hung her head. She felt ashamed for her words,

and said, "You are right, Scarlet Parrot. You are the most beautiful of

all parrots. But your true beauty is in being a storehouse of knowledge.

I came to ask you for some of your colors, but I will put your wisdom in

my red wagon instead." And the Little Gray Parrot did, and walked on

through the forest.

 

Of a sudden the Little Gray Parrot heard a bird talking like a clock.

"Cuckoo!" he said. "Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" The Little Gray Parrot

stopped to listen. She stood beneath the green umbrella of a palm. She

turned her gray eyes to the blue sky. She searched among and between the

green leaves and their gray/black shadows. Finally the Little Gray

Parrot found a bright black and white bird shining in the shadows. The

Little Gray Parrot sat on the edge of her red wagon and admired him for

a full minute. Then she raised her wing politely. "Cuckoo Bird," she

said, "Why are you so happy today, filling the trees with noon and

dinner songs?" The Cuckoo Bird closed his beak and hopped to a branch an

inch from the Little Gray Parrot's gray beak, and said, "I am very

happy. I have five new babies, all fat and healthy, and I am going on a

vacation tomorrow."

[Roseanna]

The Little Gray Parrot looked into the eye of the father Cuckoo Bird. He

did not look tired. He looked well rested and full of life, so the

Little Gray Parrot said, "Your babies must be very good indeed! You have

slept well lately, and your breast feathers are sleek and smooth. You

would hardly know you have five babies to take care of. You must be very

proud!"

 

 

The father Cuckoo Bird replied, "Oh, I am very proud! They are all so

beautiful, and so big each one fills a whole nest!" The Little Gray

Parrot was astounded. "Every baby has his own nest?" she asked. She

remembered when she was small she had warm brothers and sisters around

her like a blanket. "How wonderful," said the Little Gray Parrot. "Can I

see your babies?"

 

The Cuckoo Bird puffed up with pride, "Oh surely," he said, "Here is one

above us in this tree. And the others are scattered like leaves

throughout the forest."

 

 

The Little Gray Parrot looked high up in the tree. In a crooked crotch

she saw a neat, small nest nestled against the black bark. A big chick

spilled over the edges of the nest. His mouth gaped open, red and yellow

like a flower. He demanded food loudly, and soon a small Yellow Wren

flew to him and stuffed his beak with worms and bugs. The Little Gray

Parrot could hardly believe her eyes, for this was the very Yellow Wren

she was looking for to ask for her color!

 

The Yellow Wren flew away but soon came back. Again the Yellow Wren

stuffed the young cuckoo with food. The Yellow Wren did this several

times and the Little Gray Parrot watched in amazement. Finally the

Little Gray Parrot said, "Cuckoo Bird, why does someone else feed your

baby? Why don't you feed him?"

 

"What a stupid question!" said the Cuckoo Bird. "I'm going on vacation

tomorrow!" And he flew away.

 

The Little Gray Parrot was amazed! When the Yellow Wren came back the

Little Gray Parrot called out to her, "Yellow Wren! Yellow Wren! May I

ask you a question?"

 

The Yellow Wren first fed the young cuckoo, then flew down and sat on a

springy shrub close to the Little Gray Parrot. "You must be quick," she

said. "As you see, I have a baby to feed and cannot talk long."

 

"I see you are feeding the Cuckoo Bird's baby," said the Little Gray

Parrot. "I came all this way through the forest to ask you for some of

your beautiful yellow color, but now you are tired. Your feathers don't

shine like they used to. You used to be a spot of sun on a leaf, but now

you are dull and used. Why do you spend all your energy feeding the

Cuckoo Bird's baby until you are no longer beautiful? Don't you think

that is a stupid thing to do?"

 

The Yellow Wren looked long at the Little Gray Parrot. The Little Gray

Parrot began to regret her words. Then the Yellow Wren lit on the ground

beside the Little Gray Parrot. She smiled at the Little Gray Parrot an

old, earth-worn smile and said, "Little Gray Parrot. What is in my nest

is mine. When a baby cries for food I cannot be deaf. It is life calling

to me. If I do not answer I have taken the bony hand of death into my

own. We walk through the forest and only dry, spent leaves are in our

path. I will not befriend him. Any life that comes to me I will

preserve. I am often second in my own life. But in this, first in the

earth. Do you understand?"

 

The Little Gray Parrot hung her head, and then looked at the Yellow Wren

from her bright gray eye. "I do understand," she whispered, "I think you

must be the smartest bird in all the forest! You give life, and that is

the greatest thing on all the earth! You are a Mother, and love with a

mother's heart. This is your true beauty, more radiant than yellow

feathers. Your heart is yellow and warm as the sun. I will put this in

my red wagon instead of a yellow feather." And she did.

 

The young cuckoo began calling again for the Yellow Wren, and she kissed

the Little Gray Parrot on the tip of her gray beak and flew away. The

Little Gray Parrot watched her fly to her baby and again pulled her red

wagon through the forest.

 

"I only have one more bird to find," said the Little Gray Parrot. "But

he is the most beautiful of all!" And the Little Gray Parrot went into

the deepest shade of the forest, for that is where the Peacock lived.

 

The Little Gray Parrot pulled her red wagon through the quiet darkness.

She tugged and tugged it over tangles of roots and fallen branches. Soon

the Little Gray Parrot was tired and stopped to rest. She sat on a

fallen log and admired the green museum walls around her. Her gray eyes

fell on Monet and Manet, and Van Gogh hiding in a corner painting

daisies.

[Roseanna]

Of a sudden the Little Gray Parrot heard a loud voice booming through

the trees. "Ku-wow! Ku-wow! Ku-wow!" it said. It sang like Big Ben, it

rang like Liberty!

 

The Little Gray Parrot was very pleased. This was the voice of the

Peacock, and she followed his song along a crooked path until she found

him sitting in a flowering tree.

 

How beautiful the Peacock was! His neck was like the sky, and it

shimmered like water! On his head he wore a crown that bobbed around on

long stalks growing from his brow. And his tail was made of thousands of

green, blue and golden eyes, each looking in a different part of the

forest. And when the Peacock danced his tail rustled like a bride's

dress, and all her ladies' together! Surely the Peacock could spare a

feather for the Little Gray Parrot to make God happy.

 

Soon the Peacock jumped down from his perch. He gathered the ball-gown

of his tail around himself, and began to tap his yellow feet lightly.

Dust rose around his yellow ankles, and dry leaves too. In figure eights

the Peacock danced, life on the parched earth. Green like Mother he was,

and Blue like Father too, mixing the two worlds.

 

The Little Gray Parrot watched the Peacock for a while feeling something

akin to envy. Then she said, "Peacock! How beautiful you dance!" The

Peacock stopped his stamping on the ground and looked at the Little Gray

Parrot. "Thank you," he said, and resumed his dancing. Dust sprang up

from the ground and mingled gold and green, and the Peacock danced and

danced.

 

The Little Gray Parrot was bewildered. "Peacock," she said, "I do not

understand. People say you dance a beautiful dance when you are thankful

for the rain."

 

The Peacock bobbed his head beneath his crown. "Yes," he said, "I am

thankful for the rain." The Peacock circled the Little Gray Parrot. He

dropped one gold wingtip into the dust and drummed hollowly. "I am

thankful for the rain," he sang as he danced. "Thank you God for the

rain," he sang.

 

The Little Gray Parrot coughed and brushed the dust from her feathers.

The Peacock's dance was very dusty indeed! The Little Gray Parrot

watched the Peacock dance. Finally she could not contain herself. She

stamped her small gray foot and said, "Peacock! How can you be thankful

for the rain? It has not rained for several weeks, and people say we are

in a drought!" The Little Gray Parrot thought the Peacock was certainly

silly! The Peacock stopped dancing. He cocked his head to one side. Then

he cocked his head to the other. Finally he said, "I am thankful for the

rain even when it does not come. Should I only pray when I get my way?"

he asked. The Little Gray Parrot looked at the Peacock. He was very

beautiful with his backdrop of tail. He was beauty standing on two long,

long legs. Finally the Little Gray Parrot sighed and said, "You are

right, Peacock. We should be grateful whatever the weather. I came to

ask for one of your beautiful feathers for you are rightly called the

most beautiful bird in the forest. But your gratitude is more beautiful

still. I will put that in my red wagon instead." And she did.

 

The Peacock nodded to the Little Gray Parrot. His blue crown bobbed on

the stalks on his head, and he began to dance again. The Little Gray

Parrot turned her red wagon around and said, "Thank you, Peacock. I must

go now for it will soon be dark and it is a long walk home."

 

The Little Gray Parrot could hear the Peacock singing as she pulled her

red wagon through the forest. The wishing star was already in the sky

when she got home, and she was very tired as she put her red wagon away.

"I don't have any more color now than I had this morning," she said. "My

wagon is empty except for the ideas I put there. I will never be able to

please God as much as the colorful birds do." She was very tired as she

climbed into her bed high up in the tree. It was not long before she

fell sound asleep as Mother drew her cobalt and white bed curtains

around her.

 

But God was still awake. He had watched the Little Gray Parrot pulling

her red wagon all day. He watched her as she talked to the Jungle Bird

and the Scarlet Parrot. He watched her as she talked to the Yellow Wren

and the Peacock. And God was very pleased with the Little Gray Parrot

for trying to please Him, and he looked down on her gray head sleeping

on her gray bed and said, "My Little Gray Parrot. You went to ask the

other birds to give you things to make you worthy of Me. But you could

see what was truly beautiful in my creation. You gathered the most

pleasing things into your wagon, although it appears to be empty. For

this reason I will have you pull your red wagon behind you for the rest

of time. In this way everyone on earth will know how you have pleased

Me."

 

But the Little Gray Parrot simply slept, dreaming of the creation of

stars. She woke again the next day to the voice of the Jungle Bird

calling his brother into the sky. The Little Gray Parrot was still tired

from the long walk of the day before. She was still disappointed she had

no gifts for God. But she was a good little parrot, and got up to groom

herself as she had been taught. Like the other parrots the Little Gray

Parrot wore a little comb inside her beak to comb her feathers, and she

began to preen and stretch her wings. How long and sleek her flight

feathers were! How soft the storm-cloud gray feathers on her belly!

After the Little Gray Parrot combed the feathers on her legs; she turned

her head around to comb her back.

 

But what a surprise! The Little Gray Parrot could hardly believe her

gray eyes! For, much to her amazement, her tail had turned bright,

bright red! She stared and stared at her new shining tail. But it did

not change at all; it stayed bright red! It was redder than the Scarlet

Parrot! It was red just like her wagon!

 

All that day the Little Gray Parrot looked at her tail. When she walked

through the forest she looked back to make sure it had not changed back

to gray. And that night she tucked her beak under her wing looking back

at her tail. All night she opened her eyes to look at her tail. But even

the darkness did not change it back to gray. Even in the night the

Little Gray Parrot's tail was red. How happy the Little Gray Parrot was

now! She had the most beautiful red tail in all the forest! And to this

day her tail is bright, bright red. And to this day it follows her

everywhere she walks, swaying back and forth behind her just like a red

wagon.

 

 

From: The BirdBoard.Com Weekly Newsletter 2003, Author unknown

[danmcq]

Thanks Roseanna, it is always good to read this once again. Especially for new grey owners that probably have not.

[judygram]

This is such a beautiful story and has been posted here before but it is a good read for those who are new to the forum, thanks Rose for sharing it with us.

[Birdnut]

Great story, I had not read. Thanks for sharing.