One of Edinburgh Zoo's eight rare Scarlet Ibises escaped yesterday and was last seen in Dundas Street.
It broke free with help from a squirrel which gnawed through netting at the top of his enclosure.
A specialist 'bird team' from the Zoo, along with members of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, are on the trail of the fugitive, and have nearly recaptured it on several occasions today.
They will continue again at dusk and dawn for as long as it takes. They aim to surprise the bird when it descends in search of prawns, mussels, insectivorous bird food, mealworms and crickets, none of which are exactly thick on the ground in the New Town.
Bright red may cut it in the fashion stakes in South America and the Caribbean where the Scarlet Ibis originates, but it is not such a great camouflage in Edinburgh conditions. Zoo officials are concerned that if the bird is not caught soon it may attract the unwelcome attention of local predators.
The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) derives its bright red colour from shellfish, and is the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago. The Edinburgh lawyer is the regional human of the New Town, and derives its colour from claret and bright red corduroys at weekends.
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Update
Thursday, 3.30pm: Pimpernel, the damned elusive Scarlet Ibis, has flitted by moonlight from his Dundas Street hideout and is now enjoying more congenial surroundings by the sea.
Police this morning reported sighting him in the Cramond area of the city, and crack specialists from the zoo-pursuit team are seeking him here and there this afternoon.
Shellfish left out for the bird overnight were gone in the morning, and keepers are confident that it was Pimpernel who ate them. They aim to coax him down from the trees with more of the same this evening. Animal lovers will hope he does not try eating the local mussels which are widely advertised along the foreshore as not fit for consumption.
Edinburgh Zoo do not have an official term of endearment for the creature ('that bloody bird' does not count) so Spurtle has unilaterally opted to name him after Baronness Orczy's heroic master of evasion and disguise 'the Scarlet Pimpernel'.
Watch this space for developments.
Saturday, 5.55pm: A source on the ground says Pimpernel is now in Silverknowes, mostly evading recapture by staying 30–40 feet up a tree.
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His occasional descents have raised hopes that he may soon be tempted by prawns concealing spring-loaded nets. Around 8 zoo staff have been lurking nearby trying to look innocent. However, their lack of success may owe something to comparative youth and inexperience.
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Sunday: Pimpernel was recaptured this weekend and returned to Edinburgh Zoo. When we visited him there, he looked thoughtful and was playing by himself with a baseball.