Roy Strang is engaged in a strange quest in a surrealist South Africa. His mission is to eradicate the evil marabou stork before it drives away the flamingo from picturesque Lake Torto. Part of the 1995 Scottish Book Fortnight promotion. Roy Strang is engaged is a strange quest in a surrealist South Africa. His mission is to eradicate the evil predator-scavenger bird, the marabou stork, before it drives away the peace-loving flamingo from the picturesque Lake Torto. But behind this world lies another: the world of Roys bizarre family, the Scottish housing scheme in which he grew up, his mundane job, a disastrous emigration to Aftrica, and his youthful life of brutality with a gang of soccer casuals. As one world crashes into the other, this potentially charming story of ornithological goodwill mutates into a filthy tale of violence, abuse and redemption.