THE PAPER WHALE

Wendy the Birdwatcher

I wouldn’t call Wendy the most active cat in the world (she is more of a napper), but once in a while she can have quite an adventure. The other day, we were in my bedroom – I, hard at work on my computer, and Wendy lounging as usual on the bed – when a gaggle of birds, or a flock of birds, whichever, landed loudly on my roof and on the surrounding trees. One particularly fat one landed right near my window, black feathers falling everywhere. I think it was a starling, judging by its unique coloring and gregarious personality. Wikipedia tells me starlings are “gregarious.” Never has Wendy reacted in quite this way to a bird: she got down on her haunches and trilled at it – trilled! – and I could see that she wanted very badly to pretend as though she herself were a bird, one of its fat bird friends. What a clever ruse, a cat masquerading as a bird, to capture it, of course, and chew on it a little, ruffle it up a bit. I, always looking for an opportunity to witness animal behavior up close, opened the window (there is a screen). The window is maybe three feet higher than the bed, but Wendy leapt – she leapt! – from the bed and up on the windowsill, squashing herself against the screen. All the birds flew away, and I had to help Wendy down from the window, as she didn’t have much standing room. She was a little angry, I think, and spent the rest of the day alternately napping and glowering.