Brown Honeyeater spans saga of the footbridges

Few people know that the dominant bird species in Tyto these days, the Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta), is a keen student of human behaviour and a student of folly and lover of drollery. Here is one bird's story:

The man drives a white ute. Not a you-beaut ute, a workaday ute. All the men drive white utes. They drive along the grass track and look for things to do.

Some months ago a man saw a thing to do. He stared at a wooden footbridge. It was showing cracks in some planks.

The man drove away. Another man drove by a month later. He saw the cracks too. He drove away.

Some months later a man drove up to a footbridge. He stared at the cracks. He drove on and stared at another footbridge. And then another.

He got a spray can and put a white mark on some cracked planks. He did all four bridges that have wooden planks.

Several months later another man came. He stared at the white marks. He got out of his white ute and marched on to one bridge. He stomped on the most cracked plank. One end fell to the dirt just below. He went away.

Later, another man in a white ute came and put up two signs saying the bridge was closed.

A month later a man came with a white ute and new planks. He took out the spray-marked planks on three bridges and screwed in new planks. He did not do the fourth bridge. He took away one sign.

We suppose another man will come for the other sign.