Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/394

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354
THE HARVEST SONG
ACT I

The grains are white,
O Tuyallay,
So sweet for food,
O Tuyallay.
The fruit is sweet,
O Tuyallay,
The leaves are green
O Tuyallay;
But the trap is set,
O Tuyallay.
The lime is there,
O Tuyallay.
We'll cut thy claws,
O Tuyallay,
To seize thee quick,
O Tuyallay.
Ask Piscaca,[1]
O Tuyallay,
Nailed on a branch,
O Tuyallay.
Where is her heart,
O Tuyallay?
Where her plumes,
O Tuyallay?
She is cut up,
O Tuyallay,
For stealing grain,
O Tuyallay.
See the fate,
O Tuyallay,
Of robber birds,
O Tuyallay.

  1. The piscaca is a much larger bird than the tuya. These piscacas (coccoborus torridus) are nailed to trees as a warning to other birds. They are black, with white breasts.