Maura and Styx. Cornus mas, Cornel, and two Crows, Gaasperplaspark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

'So there you are, Maura! I was winging it across the Gaasp River when I noticed an early-flowering Cornel...'

'Oh! caw-you, Styx! are you trying to get into my good graces again?! I heard you crowing with the others, you polyamorous jet!'

'Well, maybe... But hear me out. I saw that pretty Cornel just after passing over an Apiary. Soon Bees - such delicious insects! - will be flying out to visit Cornel's flowers. And you, I thought, would want to indulge your sweet tooth with or without me.'

'Stop it! Styx! don't you sweet talk me!'

'Maura! but listen! I've heard - though it's an unlikely tale - that Cornel nectar is fatal to Bees. That's what some botanists like Jean Ruelle (1874-1537), Abraham Munting (1626-1683) and Franz Paula von Schrank (1747-1835) claim. And of course I worried that you might be poisoned when you gorge yourself on those dying Bees. So I came over to your moping branch to warn you: do be careful with your diet! Even if those botanists are daft. Better be safe than sorry! And now I'm going back to my crowd. Caw-Caw!'

 

Done