Monday 5th September (Grey, Gloom and Wind)


Mr. Kite looked out of his bedroom window into a grey breezy autumnal morning. With drizzle in the air and an increasing wind Mr. Kite sat around waiting for the sun to appear; but it did not. So Mr. Kite filled in the crossword.

Now one of the clues was: 'Mongrel called outside with duck, Australian bird; (9 letters).

So Mr. Kite thought about a few names of Australian birds; Black Swan, Cassowary and Cockatoo. None of these fitted so it was time to peruse the books. Now 'a mongrel is a cur'; so did the bird start with Cur. Looking further Mr. Kite found the answer: Currawong.

Mr. Kite believes that we learn something every day and today he learned a new name of bird from Australia. Here are a few facts. The Currawong is a passerine belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae. The most well know are the grey, pied and black.

After such brain-teasing Mr. Kite settled for a tipple of Tetley tea. Cheers from the gloom of autumnal Salop.