Although Eril was an ostrich,
     He had a tiny brain.
He lived inside a bird sanctuary
     In the northern part of Spain.

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He thought he was superior
     To other parkland birds,
But the parrots were all rude to him
     And called out naughty words.

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Now Eril didn't heed their words
     And strutted round with pride
And when his keepers came for him
     He’d run away and hide.

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Then he’d chase the keepers all around 
     On his mighty muscled legs
And rudely grab and throw at them
     A rotten ostrich egg.

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'I’m the fastest bird on earth!' he cried.
     'No one can beat me there!'
And then he'd run, with head held high,
      With very little care.

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'We’ll see if this is true or not,'
      The other birds all said.
'Tomorrow we will have a race
      And we’ll be far ahead.'

​

The morning sun shone in the sky,
     The birds were on their line
And everyone arrived on time
     Before the hour of nine.

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At nine o’clock, right on the dot,
     The starting flag went down,
And birds of different sizes flew
     And circled round the town.

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But Eril, in his foolish pride,
     Forgot he couldn't fly.
He watched the other birds soar up
     And circle round the sky.

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At ten past nine the first returned
     And passed the winning post,
But, as Eril hadn’t left the park,
     He couldn’t really boast.

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'It isn’t fair!' Eril complained:
     'You never mentioned 'fly'.
My legs are big, my speed is great
     But I can’t get in the sky.'

​

The other birds all laughed with glee:
     'You thought that you were king!
But for all those muscles in your legs,
     You’ve bloomin’ useless wings.'

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