This painting tells a traditional story of the eagle and his two wives—the crow and the white cockatoo. The crow would bring termite grubs still mixed with dirt and stones, but the eagle refused to eat them. The white cockatoo prepared the grubs carefully, removing every pebble and leaf. The eagle was pleased and always gave her the best parts of the kangaroo he hunted.
Jealous, the crow attacked the white cockatoo and chased her away. Then she tricked the eagle by pretending the cockatoo had a baby that looked like him. The eagle believed her.
Later, the eagle followed the tracks and found the white cockatoo had gone into the water and passed away. He sat by the water and cried.
Returning home, he made a plan. He tricked the crow into digging into a burrow, then threw fire in after her. The crow died in the flames.
After all that had happened, the eagle lived alone.