“The birds screeched and continued to dive at us. One of them settled on a nearby branch and began berating us. I stopped in my tracks, however, when it actually called out, “Stupid creatures!” “Can they talk?” “Yes,” Shardas said curtly, “making them even worse than Marta’s monkey. If you talk to them, they will mimic the words. Unfortunately, most of what they hear are curse words, so please don’t be shocked if they call you ruder things than ‘stupid’.”