The early bird gets the worm. The early worm... gets eaten.

The early bird catches the worm.

I think we consider too much the luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.

Sometimes the early bird gets the worm, but sometimes the early bird gets frozen to death.

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

And the oldest birds hunt when they can see.