the battle in the hills part 3

     The kookaburra sat on a branch near a house with a wide white roof. The sun suddenly came out from behind the clouds and reflected off the metal roof and into the kookaburra's eyes. She turned away from the dazzling sunlight, watching an eastern rosella flying far away.
     "Aah-hoo-hoo-hoo...kaa-koo-koo"
Irind turned her head toward her mother. They were far away from each other.
     "O-o-hah-ah-aaa-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooo"
     "Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooo"
     "Haa-hoo-hoohoohoohoohooh"
     "Hooo" Irind admitted, flying to her mother.
     "Why did you sit close to that house?"
     "I was hoping I could steal some food."
     Irind was a member of the Bulumat family. This family lived near a town and often fought with the other families, Dumeni and Jineik.
     "Don't think of doing that. The last kookaburra who stole a piece of meat got hit with a-"
     "Don't remind me."
     But 'think of doing that' they will. The Bulumat family stole from humans at every chance they could get. These kookaburras got wounded and bruised many times, but with a reward, and during the dry hungry summer months that was all they thought about.
     "khoo-khoo-khoo..."
     Suddenly, Irind's mother snapped her head around and stood up straight. The call came from somewhere among the trees.
     The call sounded out again. "Khoo-khoo-khoo..." the other kookaburra said, sounding as if he was not sure what to do next.
     "Invaders!" Irind's mother said quickly. Before Irind could respond, her mother, Ires, chuckled "come on!" and they both flew into the trees.
     While they were flying, they heard more:
     "khoo-khoo-khoo..."
     "kaa..."
     "khoo...khoo..."
     "khoo-khoo-khoo-kaa-kaa-kaa-kaa-kaa-"
     Another joined in, making a louder sound than the first one, "kooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
     Two more joined in, making the resulting sound "koohookhookaahaahaa..."
    When Irind and Ires got there, they saw the whole Bulumat family together, joining in loud laughter. The two kookaburras alighted on a tree branch and started doing the same.
     They were trying to ward off invaders, but they had no luck. The two kookaburras from the Jineik family would not move closer, but did not fly away into their territory. The laughing continued, but the two unfamiliar kookaburras didn't budge. Slowly the laughing ceased.
      Uar, the strongest of the Bulumat family, flew onto a branch closer to the Jineik family kookaburras and looked at the eldest kookaburra, Urask. Everyone knew what Uar was going to do and intently watched.
     Urask raised his head and cackled, "oo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo...ha".
     Uar flew at full speed into one of the enemy kookaburras and battered him all around. The whole Bulumat family started laughing, cheering Uar on on his winning battle.
     Everyone expected the two Jineik kookaburras to fly back into their territory, but instead the whole Jineik family flew out of the trees and both families, Jineik and Bulumat, were caught up in a full fledged battle, the loud calling of two families ringing through the entire forest.
     The kookaburras fought over something they needed; not territory, but food. If the Bulumat family got hungry, they could just steal food from humans. If the Dumeni family got hungry, they would have to fight another family, but they were rarely hungry. If the Jineik family got hungry, they would fight for a chance to get some food. This is why the Jineik family was attacking the Bulumat family.
     Irind looked closely at the attackers. She had to find one that was her size...there! She saw another kookaburra who was a juvenile like her and had probably just learned to fly.
     "Don't start fighting. You're too young." said Ires, close beside her.
     Irind didn't listen. She had to fight. If the Bulumat family lost they would have to let the Jineik family hunt in their territory for a while. Irind did not want that. she launched herself into the mass of battling kookaburras that were flying back and forth.
     "Irind!"