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Discover that life as a feathered friend is not all eating worms and standing around dozing on one leg.

Percy must build a nest by collecting ten twigs from the nearby motorway. On the tarmac he avoids squishing car wheels, predatory cats and ferrets. In the sky, Percy is liable to be pranged by planes and balloons.

The credits roll to the accompaniment of a snazzy rendition of a classical piece. Pressing the space key takes you into the lowest skill level.

Percy is a neatly drawn bird who flies horizontally and vertically, wings beating the air in smooth and realistic fashion. He flags along as fast or as slow as you care to control him by the joystick. As Percy wings his way, the background and foreground scroll along evenly at slightly different speeds, giving an attractive feeling of depth.

The passing scenery is picturesque, if bizarre. It consists of fluffy clouds, blue skies, castles, shops, hills, tress, walls and, at the bottom of the screen, the ever-present motorway, complete with crash barrier.

Down this mean M1 Percy must go for that's where the twigs are. He gathers one in his talons, taking care not to be squashed by speeding daytrippers. Percy destroys cars by dropping an explosive egg - result, scrambled Chevrolet.

Each twig must be brought back to Percy's nest, avoiding sparrows who are just waiting for a chance to pinch the hard-earned DIY material.

Percy partakes of a passing butterfly for extra points and if he's really browned off with the sparrows, lets them have it with one of his eggs. And then there's the prowling cats, voracious ferrets, planes and balloons. Higher skill levels have Percy living in the fast lane.

The music continues throughout the game - it's pretty catchy and shouldn't have you reaching for the volume control. Losing the last of your three lives brings up the inevitable Death March but the multiple-voice rendition of it is so good, it almost sounds original.

Great fun, excellent graphics, superb sound and a worthy challenge. Coo!