At 08:35 AM 23/03/2004 +0000, you wrote:

>Be careful, Roger!
>
>Sparky may seem friendly, but I still remember his/her nasty claws
>from Fulda last year (excepting Helen, most of us kept a certain
>distance). By the way, does anyone know the gender of this bird or are
>"baby" birds considered unisex?

This isn't any regular baby bird though - it's a phoenix. Phoenixes
(phoenices?) lay an immaculate egg every 500 years to perpetuate the
species, so Sparky had better hope she's a hen.

Some time between finishing the chapter reviews and stepping on the plane
for Fulda via Nakita, I'm going to have to put some more feathers on the
fluffy Sparky. One year on, she has become fully fledged and has acquired
a fiery tail...thanks to the artistry of her renderer.

Helen