Help, a scary bird

Fri, May 2 12:30 AM

At around four in the afternoon on April 26, Erik Kurzweil, counsellor in the German embassy, witnessed an incredible sight in the first-floor guestroom of his Malcha Marg bungalow - a huge bird sitting on the bed and flapping its giant wings. A terrified Erik closed the door immediately and screamed for Christina, his maid, who scrambled up the stairs wondering if she had forgotten to dust some godforsaken corner ("But I never scream at her," Erik says).

She too saw the bird; she too screamed. The security guard was summoned.

He did not scream. Neither did the bird.

It had brownish skin, beige-and-white feathers, a sharp beak and eyes that showed no fear. "I recalled scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds where humans were attacked by huge black birds.

I thought the bird would gash our eyes," Erik says. A colleague sms-ed the telephone number of Wildlife SOS in Defence Colony, which promised to sent their man ASAP.

Meanwhile, Erik, Christina and the guard opened the door to the guest room and hid behind a glass wall. They also opened the balcony door hoping the bird would fly out.

It did hop towards the balcony, sat there for twenty minutes but, oh, hopped back to the bed. "I had a sinking feeling that the bird would also call its family.

After all, this room has a bed, air-conditioner, television and an attached bathroom," Erik says. Two hours later, the wildlife man who had lost his way appeared with a large cage.

Fearlessly he went inside and, after half a minute, came out with the bird firmly held in his hand. "The crisis ended without any bloodshed but the bird did shed many feathers in the room," Erik says.

The Black Kite - that's what it was - is now flying in a forest outside Delhi; without TV, AC or attached bathroom.

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