The Tiny Bird and Her Chicks

A tiny bird built a nest and laid her eggs there. The eggs hatched. Then she went to look for food to feed her tiny chicks.

While she was gone, ants swarmed the nest, seizing her chicks. The chicks struggled and squirmed but could not escape.

The mother returned and saw the ants attacking her chicks. "Oh, if only I had given birth to a man-child, a strong man-child," sobbed the mother, looking away. "My little chicks have no strength."

When she looked into the nest again, she saw only the bones of her chicks picked clean by the ants.

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Inspired by: "The Story of the Wakota Bird" in Lamba Folklore by Clement M. Doke, 1927.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The story gives the Lamba name of the bird as "wakota" which I have not been able to identify. Doke also reports the bird's words as a proverb.

This tiny tit is found in Zambia.