THREE AMIGOS: Maggy the magpie, Pussy the cat and Yellow Bird the yellow bird - three unlikely friends - were reluctant to perform for the camera. The trio see nothing unusual in their friendship.
In the Garden of Eden the lion lay with the lamb, but in one garden in Waitara, New Zealand the magpie plays with the cat.
Adele Crofskey and Barney Smart's Princess St farmlet is home to goats, guinea fowl, pigs, sheep, ducks, cows and peacocks.
But the star of this menagerie is undoubtedly Maggy, the talking magpie who may or may not realise it is not a human and definitely does not realise her best mate, Pussy, is an instinctive bird eater.
"Go away. Go away," she squawked at Adele as she tried to coax her to play with the cat.
"She's grumpy because Barney picked her up down in the back paddock and brought her in here for a photo. She's sulking now.''
"Go away. Go away,'' the bird continued to whine.
The bird was found as a chick by Barney on one of his possum lines. Though of rough looking exterior, the long-time possum, deer and goat hunter couldn't leave a bird in need.
He brought her home and the pair hand-raised the bird for the past few years.
She now welcomes guests with the blunt "What do you want?'', has a colourful way of telling visitors where to park and frequently pretends to be a rooster.
"I don't think she knows she's a magpie'' Barney says.
Just as there are suspicions the cat, Pussy, doesn't know he is a cat. He has reportedly never tried to eat Maggy or the yellow bird, naturally called Yellow Bird, who is their frequent companion.
The trio play and sleep together but part for meal times.
"Well, Pussy's never been much of a hunter or he would have eaten Yellow Bird,'' Adele says, adding that the confused cat's usual diet is fresh rabbit meat, shot by Barney of course.
"We've always called Maggy 'Maggy' and Yellow Bird 'Yellow Bird'. I suppose we just never found a name that fit right for the cat so we always called her Pussy.
"I always wanted a cat that was called Calici, you know like the virus but we could never agree,'' Adele says.
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