'A Dead Magpie Lark

A magpie lark dead on the roadside something I'd not rather see
He will be missed from his home patch the beautiful pee wee
He'll never again be heard piping pee wee as dawn lights up the sky
Or as the sun sets in the west to wattle tree he won't fly

To sing pee wee with his devoted wife for him she now will grieve
For birds too mourn a dead partner in case you don't believe
Those who think wild life don't have feelings and feelings cannot show
Are ignorant of Nature's ways and of Nature little know.

A dead magpie lark on the road side killed by a passing car or truck
Wild creatures to survive to old age need a whole pile of luck
Perhaps against the vehicle wind screen the poor fellow did fly
And on the Inverloch Korumburra road by the road side did die.

One less magpie lark to pipe pee wee from dawn till gloam of day
And sad to think he had to die in such a tragic way
But in a nearby paddock his offspring will sing
And build a mud nest on a tree next year in early Spring.

Francis Duggan'