Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike Poem by Francis Duggan

The bird known as the black faced cuckoo shrike
Is one who does not have a look alike
Dark around the face and body feathers bluish gray
They are birds i do not see every day

On flimsy stick nest on outer branch of fork of tree
The female lays her blotched green eggs of two to three
In places where trees are plentiful them one does see
And they are not restricted to a territory

Medium sized birds they are not big or small
Distinctive in their pleasant churring call
On alighting on a branch to shuffle their wings to them a familiar thing
Which gives rise to the other name they are known by of Shufflewing

The black faced cucko shrike you see today
Tomorrow may be many miles away
On small fruits and insects they do live
Just learning of birds such pleasure to me give.