Long ago, the birds lacked a king, so the word was sent out through all the glens, hills, forests, and gulleys. All the birds in the land gathered in the valley of the birds, called Glen-na-hEan. There, the owl, wisest of the birds, asked the others how to go about choosing their king. All kinds of birds were there: doves as white as snow and crows as black as night, tiny robins who were red of breast, and wood pigeons who were proud and haughty. Rich magpies, poor swallows, seagulls of the coasts, and mighty eagles of the heights. And yes, even the little wren too.