On Australian Magpies

They sing in the darkness long before daybreak
The Flute of the magpie one cannot mistake
They often wake from their sleep and sing on the moonlit tree
Their notes familiar to many and familiar to me
The Australian magpie is not a corvid but a piping shrike
The black and white bird does not have a look alike
The difference between them and the smaller pied mud nest building bird known as the Pee wee
In song and appearance distinctive as most would agree
Distinctive from others in their flute like song and in every other way
They sing in the night and they sing in the day
They sing all year round Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring
The silver billed songsters are born to sing
They kill nestlings and small birds to eat mercy they do not show
Yet despite their name of magpie they are not a species of crow.