The whale shuddered like an earthquake and shook every one of us off her back to the ground. I jumped out of danger but the poor caribou took a bad fall. The bat almost got crushed under that belly blubber.

"Forgive her," exclaimed the hummingbird. "I'm sure she didn't realize..."

"Yes, I'm very sorry," the whale apologized. "I wouldn't hurt any one here for oceans - especially another female. Are you okay, caribou? And salmon: forgive me for lashing out at you. We need to stick together, we few females on this walk. How many are we? Let's see: the hummingbird, the polar bear, the spider, the salmon, the caribou, the tern... and me, the whale! Only seven! Hmmm... Vastly outnumbered. But we outweigh them by tons! And we can out-organize them too. I'll tell you what: let us form a female caucus on this migration!"

"Let's, let's," chimed in the hummingbird.

"Take it from a veteran in these sexual wars (five times I've been a wife in that hot bath called marriage!), we need a female caucus on this migration. Yes, females! We now hold the vantage ground: two of us in a row - the salmon and whale - have told our tales. Now I shall tell MINE and we females shall keep up our commanding position. Females on top, I say! The whale knows what I mean."

But now the males were mad. The bat was rabid, and even the moose had his back up. But to all this hot blood the hummingbird showed a cool demeanor. She simply smiled at the males. "I shall tell a tale, my dear lads, which shall please you," the hummingbird beamed. "On my word of honor! Let me speak next and you shall see. I promise to make you happy."

The cocks and the cob, the bulls and all the males lay their heads together. While they were thus engaged the hummingbird turned to her female caucus. (And your reporter the cricket must jump between BOTH camps if he is to chronicle all that occurred.)