Once a happy pair of hornbills
Met in the forest blade
Built a nest in the tree tops
And four eggs they laid

Mother hornbill sat there
Father searched for food
To feed the mother hornbill
Life was kind and good

Poor little umkholwane
Sitting on her nest alone
Poor little umkholwane
Nobody else was home

While the mother hornbill sat there
Along came a handsome bird
Said "Why do you sit there?"
To wait there is absurd

Husband he has left you
Now he's flying free
Come and leave your nest now
Fly away with me

Poor little umkholwane
Sitting in her nest alone
Poor little umkholwane
Flew down from her home

Home came the father hornbill
Exhausted from his flight
Found his wife was missing
Wondered about her plight

Thought she had been taken
Thought she had been killed
Sad to hatch the eggs out
Georgie was fulfilled

Wise old brown hornbills
Saw that treachery
Warned all other hornbills
Nesting in the hollow tree

Seal your wives in and
Close them up with clay
Feed them through a small slit
So they won't go away

Poor little umkholwane
Sitting in her nest alone
Poor little umkholwane
Prisoner in her home

Poor little umkholwane
Sitting in her nest alone
Poor little umkholwane
Prisoner in her home