On Seeing Black Tailed Native Hens

On seeing me to cover they ran for to hide away
In warrnambool in the Park by Lake Pertobe today
Dark brown migratory birds black tailed native hens their name
To be wanderers of the wetlands their main claim to fame
Small bantam like birds with cocked tails of black
Unusual in their ways though in beauty they do not lack
The lust of the wander in them always strong
In any one place they do not linger for long
By the trees near the Lake of Pertobe for long they may not stay
Tomorrow from Warrnambool they may be far away
Quite different to most other rails they have ways of their own
And of them so little is written or known
Of human kind they are quite wary and shy
When they see me they ran to the cover by the lake nearby.