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ZITTING CISTICOLA
(Cisticola juncidis)
One summer’s day, beneath garden pergola,
Perchance you may sight a zitting cisticola!
Cinnamon-brown and all streaked with black,
A figure of rare beauty, from front to back.
It so loves to flit; to flit and flutter.
It just loves to "Zit," to repetitively stutter
"Zit-zit-zit," yes, for that’s its call,
This smart little bird, this feathered ball.
Now it’s low lying grassland and swampy terrain
That cisticolas do love, yes, along coastal plain.
So to see such a fine bird from your pergola’s shade
You would really need to ensure that your garden is made
Preferably "smack-bang" in the middle of swamp,
For there’s where grass-warblers just love to romp.
Yes, ‘grass-warbler’ is its other true name,
Along with ‘fantail’ and ‘streaked cisticola;’ it’s all the same
Little bird that loves to flutter and flit,
Eating insects and other juicy bug bit.
Ranging from Darwin to Arnhem Land,
McArthur River and coastal Queensland.
Also in Africa and Southern Eurasia,
Japan, Philippines and Indonesia,
Zitting cisticolas are readily found
Sitting in trees, warbling on ground.
Fitting the picture in each habitat,
Zitting o’er swampland’s green, grassy mat.
And into this scene special singing sure fits,
Thanks to this songster that warbles and "zits."