A Rescue

A day went by and my little patient moved around inside the box to some degree, but he wasn't eating or drinking. Then it occurred to me that his surroundings were entirely unfamiliar to him within those stark cardboard walls. He needed something natural, and since nothing is more natural to an Evening Grosbeak than the fir boughs they nest in, I salvaged a branch from the yard, something knocked down by a winter storm. The following morning when I checked on my friend, I noticed a few empty sunflower seed shells on the floor of his hospital room. He perched on the edge of the towel "nest" I had provided, watching nervously as I tidied up the floor of the box.