知更鳥又來了（之三）
英文朗誦：大衛(wèi)佩奇
英文配樂：趙亮
三. 辛勞的鳥媽和鳥爸
小鳥破殼至今已滿一周。它們已經(jīng)睜開眼睛，常常吃飽了就伸頭向外張望。但它們非常敏感，只要我一舉起手機(jī)準(zhǔn)備拍照，它們就立即縮回去。它們很能吃，一天到晚不停地吃。鳥爸鳥媽輪流不息地出去尋食，配合得相當(dāng)默契，只要外出尋食的那只一回來，還不等來到跟前，巢中這只就立刻起飛騰出位置。實(shí)在難以想象它們是怎么交流的，這對(duì)幸福的鳥夫妻竟這般恩愛，喂養(yǎng)鳥寶寶又如此細(xì)心和默契。
然而有一次我無意中發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)意外情況。鳥夫妻剛剛還頭對(duì)頭地站在鳥巢邊沿上，一邊看著巢中的幼鳥，一邊嘰嘰喳喳互相說著什么。突然，它倆同時(shí)起飛，飛到附近的葡萄架上，又飛到車庫(kù)的屋頂上，異常的嘶鳴很像是在吵架，還吵得很兇。緊接著鳥媽跳開去，鳥爸追過去。鳥媽又跳開去，背對(duì)著鳥爸，鳥爸也背對(duì)著鳥媽，就這樣僵持?jǐn)?shù)分鐘。
這是什么情況？我作為鄰居和旁觀者，多少有些尷尬，想勸兩句?？蛇€沒想出勸架的辦法，就發(fā)現(xiàn)鳥媽又跳到另外一個(gè)地方，這回鳥爸主動(dòng)示好，也跟著跳了過去，在鳥媽身邊默默站了許久。
最后，鳥爸飛走了。鳥媽似乎還在生氣，一動(dòng)不動(dòng)的站在那里。很快，鳥爸叼著蚯蚓飛回鳥巢。小家伙們一個(gè)個(gè)伸著脖子張著大嘴，期盼著美味。鳥爸把蚯蚓送到了鳥寶寶們的嘴里，看著小鳥吞咽，停了片刻又飛走了。這時(shí)，鳥媽才從原地一蹦一跳地回到鳥巢，站在鳥巢邊沿上慈愛地看了看鳥寶寶們，然后溫柔地坐進(jìn)巢中。
這場(chǎng)持續(xù)了至少十分鐘“鳥夫妻吵架”事件，增加了我對(duì)知更鳥情感世界的認(rèn)知。會(huì)吵架的鳥家庭還真有“鳥情味”。
我覺得鳥媽媽應(yīng)該特別習(xí)慣我的示好。每次我拿起手機(jī)對(duì)它拍照時(shí)就說聲“笑一個(gè)”，它正襟危坐，不卑不亢又旁若無人地任我拍照，同時(shí)還精心守護(hù)著自己的寶寶們，而寶寶們?cè)趮寢尩木鞠乱擦⒖炭s回頭，乖乖地收起好奇心躲在鳥媽媽的懷中。
小鳥出殼一周多了，它們伸長(zhǎng)脖子探頭探腦地向外張望，對(duì)外面的世界充滿了好奇，有時(shí)它們張著大嘴兒嗷嗷待哺。它們實(shí)在是太能吃了，白天兩只大鳥一刻不停地出去尋食，有時(shí)一起出去，有時(shí)它們輪流出去，每次都能帶回來蚯蚓。
我記得5月18日那天，鳥媽一早出去尋食，輪到鳥爸看護(hù)小鳥。它依然站在鳥巢邊沿上，一動(dòng)不動(dòng)，不像鳥媽那樣半蹲半站地在鳥巢中央用自己身體來保護(hù)著孩子。
不知從哪兒鉆出一只黑色松鼠，悄悄來到后院，企圖向這邊流竄。鳥爸突然飛起，直沖地面，那松鼠嚇得四處逃竄。鳥爸窮追不舍，松鼠逃到葡萄架上，它就追到葡萄架上，松鼠逃到樹上，它就追到樹上，松鼠又從樹上逃到菜地里，鳥爸就追到菜地里，鳥爸這種勇猛果敢，全然沒有它平時(shí)悠閑散漫的樣子?？吹梦殷@心動(dòng)魄，要不是親眼目睹，我怎么也不相信一只知更鳥會(huì)有這本事。
5月19日是小鳥出生的第十天。它們的羽毛日漸豐滿，大鳥帶回食物的時(shí)候，小鳥已不僅僅是伸長(zhǎng)脖子張大嘴巴等著喂食，而是歡欣雀躍，撲打著翅膀搶食了，估計(jì)再有幾天翅膀硬了就要各奔東西，去追求新的生活了。小鳥越來越大，吃飽后也不愛睡了，伸著腦袋向外張望，或?qū)⒛X袋伏在鳥巢邊沿，玩兒著玩兒就睡著了。大鳥也不像前些天那樣時(shí)刻呆在小鳥身邊，而是站在鳥巢附近的葡萄架上曬曬太陽(yáng)，梳理梳理羽毛。一旦發(fā)現(xiàn)“敵人”來了，立刻像鷹一樣撲過去。小鳥也非常敏感，多少次看到它們那可愛的模樣，待我舉起手機(jī)準(zhǔn)備拍照時(shí)，它們便立刻縮回巢中。好像大鳥告誡過它們：
“爸媽不在家時(shí)，你們要多加小心，任何人都不能見”。
令人不解的是，我發(fā)現(xiàn)大鳥每次喂過小鳥之后，總會(huì)從巢里啄一些白色的東西自己吃掉。我好奇地問朋友們，它們?cè)诔允裁矗坑腥苏f是小鳥自己排除的糞便，也有人說是小鳥吃完蚯蚓消化不了又吐出來的東西，如同嬰兒吃奶后也會(huì)回吐一樣。聽上去有點(diǎn)惡心。不過，這也看出鳥父母一全心全意愛孩子,一點(diǎn)也不嫌棄。
3) Mother and Father Working Together
It has been a week since the first baby bird broke its shell. They have opened their eyes and often look out after they are fed. But they are very sensitive, and as soon as I raise the camera to take a photo, they duck back down immediately. They are very hungry and are busy eating all day long. The mother bird and the father bird went out to find food in turn, and they cooperated quite instinctively. As soon as the bird returned with food, the other had already anticipated the return, and shifted position to make room. It's hard to imagine how they communicated. This happy bird couple is so loving and feeding the baby birds so carefully and confidently.
Once I stumbled upon an unexpected situation. The bird couple was standing head-to-head on the edge of the nest, watching the chicks in the nest and chatting to each other. Suddenly, the two of them took off at the same time, flew to the nearby grape trellis, and then flew to the roof of the garage. The abnormal tweeting sounded like a quarrel, and the noise was fierce. Immediately after, the mother bird jumped away. The father bird chased after her. The mother bird jumped away again, with her back to the father bird, and the father bird also turned his back to the mother bird, and it was a stalemate for a few minutes.
What's going on? As their neighbour and bystander, I was somewhat embarrassed, and wanted to persuade them to make peace with a few words. I watched as Mother Bird jumped away from Father Bird to maintain a ten meter distance from him, and looked away as if disgusted by him. Shortly Father Bird took the initiative to show sympathy and jumped over, and stood silently beside Mother Bird for a long time.
Finally, Father Bird flew away. Mother Bird seemed to be still angry, standing there motionless. Soon, Father Bird flew back to the nest with earthworms in his mouth. The little guys stretched their necks and opened their mouths one by one, looking forward to delicious food. The father bird put the earthworm into the mouths of the baby birds, watched the bird swallow it, stopped for a moment and then flew away. At this time, the mother bird jumped back to the bird's nest from the same place, stood on the edge of the bird's nest and looked at the baby birds lovingly, and then sat gently in the nest.
This "bird couple quarrel" event that lasted at least ten minutes increased my understanding of the emotional world of robins. The quarrelling bird family really has a "bird love".
I began thinking that the Mother bird should be very used to my gestures. Every time I picked up my camera and took a picture, I said "smile”. The bird sat still, upright, neither shy or showy, and allowed me to take my pictures, at the same time carefully guarded its babies. I noted that the babies shrank down immediately under the warning of their mother. Turning back, I watched as a baby bird obediently forgot about his curiosity and hid in Mother Bird's arms.
By this time, the little birds were now out of their shelves for more than a week. They stretched their necks and probed their heads to look out. They were full of curiosity about the outside world. Sometimes they opened their mouths to feed. They were so hungry that during the day the two parents went out to find food constantly, sometimes together, and sometimes they took turns. And they brought back earthworms every time.
I remember that on May 18th, the mother bird went out to hunt for food early in the morning, and it was the father bird's turn to take care of the birds. He stood on the edge of the bird's nest, motionless, unlike the mother bird who preferred squatting or semi-standing in the center of the bird's nest to protect the chicks with her body.
A black squirrel came out of nowhere and quietly came to the backyard, looking for things to eat in the garden. Father Bird suddenly flew up, dived straight to the ground, and the squirrel ran away in fright. Father Bird chased after him, with a strong flapping of wings. The squirrel escaped to a tree, ran around the tree, and then escaped from the tree back to the vegetable garden. The bird Father chased the squirrel across the vegetable garden. Father Bird was brave and resolute, completely unlike his usual laid-back appearance. I was so thrilled that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that a robin could do this.
May 19 is the tenth day of the chick’s birth. Their feathers are getting fuller day by day. When the parent robins bring back the food, the little birds not only wait with their necks extended and mouths wide open, but they are joyful, flapping their wings to extend their reach in order to grab the food.
It now looked like their wings would be matured in a few days and they would be preparing to go their separate ways. The birds were getting bigger and bigger, and they didn’t like to sleep anymore after they were full. They stretched their heads and looked out, or put their heads on the edge of the nest, and fell asleep while playing. The parent birds did not stay beside the small birds all the time like a few days ago, but stood on the grape trellis near the bird's nest to bask in the sun and preen their feathers.
The babies were so very sensitive. So many times, I was admiring their cute appearance, and when I raised my camera to take pictures, they immediately ducked down into their nest. As if the parents had warned them:
"When we parents are not at home, you have to be more careful, so no one can see you!"
What is puzzling is that I found that every time the big bird fed the small bird, it always picked up some white stuff from the nest and ate it by itself. I asked my friends out of curiosity, what are the birds eating? Some said that it is the feces that the bird pulls out, and some said it is something that the bird can't digest and spits out after eating, just like a baby will vomit after feeding. It all sounds a little gross! However, this also shows that the bird parents love their children wholeheartedly.
The baby birds were just a few days away from being able to fly off to pursue a new life. They were now fighting for food and flapping their wings, almost flying.
作者介紹
中文主播介紹
天使，本名陳利萍。朗誦愛好者，熱愛生活，喜歡用聲音解讀美好詩(shī)文。
