When Irina returned to the tree, she saw a few small peacocks surrounding and poking at the pine cones with their beaks. When they heard her footsteps, they all flapped their wings and flew off, landing not far away and turning back to look at her.

Irina smiled at them, squatted down, and knocked out the pine nuts from a pine cone, scattering them out toward them.

“Coo coo coo—”

The children flew over happily, resting on the floor and picking up the food with their beaks like chicks pecking at rice grains. They didn’t spit out the shells either. She wondered if they’d be able to digest the tough...