The Bird Funeral

Yesterday, the kids found a young robin crouching in the yard. They tried to leave it alone, but the neighbor's cats were prowling around like roaring lions, seeking something to devour. So they got a box and put it inside and proceeded to flutter around it off and on for the rest of the day. Somehow, I got dragged into helping find worms for it, and the little thing would chirp and ask for more every few minutes. It really ingratiated itself to me when I found out they like flies, which I swept up from my floor (it's gross, but true) and fed to her. We searched for the nest from which it had fallen with no success. I set the box out front last night hoping that without all us pesky humans around, the mother might return to feed it and give us some hint where the nest is. I realized of course, that putting it out there also meant it was in the range of those pesky cats, but I decided, with Darwinian resolve, to see what would happen. I gave it a handful of flies and tucked it into a nest made of a coffee filter and said goodnight.

I awoke this morning with the bird on my mind and I went out in my pajamas to find the box empty. Of course the cats had gotten it. I knew I should have been relieved, but I wasn't.

When the kids went out to play, they found the bird in the neighbor's yard. Ugh. I hate that cats kill things and don't eat them....nasty. I procured a check-box for a casket and let the kids bury it in the dirt under the sandbox, where just yesterday, we were digging up worms. I did not partake in their little ceremony, but here are the photos from the bird funeral.