Maggie the Magpie and the Heroes of the Land
by Brad Chapman

THERE WAS ONCE a beautiful magpie named Maggie.  She had built a most beautiful nest, as a home for herself and her eggs, in the Australian bush.  She had chosen a nice native Sandpaper Fig tree as a safe place for her nest.
 
Over the years she grew old but her babies had grown up and decided they would like to set up a home, like their mother, in the branches of the Sandpaper Fig.  But the best looking branches were blocked by strange new plants: lantana and privet.
 
The magpies didn’t know these plants. They were not like any Australian plants they had ever seen.  They must have been brought here from another country. These invasive plants made it hard for the magpies to reach the branches to make their nests.
 
If something is not done soon they won’t be able to lay their eggs; they need help.
 
Walking through the bush there came a call, “Coo-ee”.  And two humans walked out from beneath the canopy of the trees.
 
“We must help these native birds by clearing out the invasive privet and lantana, so they can make their nests in the branches of the Sandpaper Fig tree.”
 
The two humans then cut and pulled, tugged and snapped all the invasive plants blocking the tree until only the native tree remained.
 
The birds called out in delight, filling the area with beautiful song; making crowns out of the pieces of invasive plants and placing them on the heads of the humans. The native magpies were thanking the humans for being the heroes for saving their homes.
 
From then on the two brave humans fought to protect the land, and the plants and the animals that called it home, and earning the name, ‘Heroes of the Land”, for their hard work.