This morning, near the end of our walk with Coalback, I noticed something falling out of a tree. It fell straight down on the roof of a car parked on the side of the road, and bounced off onto the soil by the sidewalk. I walked up to it and saw it was a small bird. It was moving erratically, jerking its legs, trying to flap its wings, and was opening and closing its beak. It was in a panic but couldn’t really move. I took it into my hands and cradled it to make it feel secure. It relaxed its little body. Less than 30 seconds later, it stopped moving. Its neck went limp, and its little head swung out to the side. The little bird had just died in my hands. I placed it by the side of the tree, and walked home with Coalbie.

This afternoon, as we were walking up that street, I saw a magpie pecking at the bird by the side of the tree. It was eating it. As we got closer, the magpie flew up to a branch and waited. I noticed that there was another little bird just like the other one lying in the same spot I had found the first one in the morning. It was also dead. Both must have fallen out of the same nest, hit the car, bounced off onto the ground, and died a few moments later. Both had holes pecked into their bellies. I walked on with Coalback. The magpie was looking at us walk away, waiting.