Do-Do Bird

I have cats. Because of this I am obliged to avoid yard ornaments such as bird feeders and bird baths. These fall in the general category of bird traps as far as I'm concerned. Last weekend I was sitting out on the back porch when a bird crash landed into the bag of tortilla chips I was noshing on. It looked at least as surprised as me only somewhat saltier. My jumping up and down yelping and waving my arms failed to communicate to the bird that it should fly away immediately so My Beloved grabbed it and tossed it toward the bushes. This may well have been the bird's maiden voyage since it didn't take the opportunity to fly off and instead landed like a stone amongst the tomato plants. Smidgen aka the Holy Terror chased it into the hostas from where she had to be extracted by the haunches and shaken until she dropped the bird. Dropped it directly into the clutches of Princess who grasped it firmly in her mouth and made off for the cover of the nearest flower bed. Both of us lunging awkwardly after her followed closely by Dogzilla who was anxious to find out why he was barking seemed to bring Princess to her senses and she dropped the bird. Either that or she had observed the strategic opportunity to pass the bird off to Killer who sped in from the side and intercepted it. Killer was much more determined and had to be tackled and the bird pried loose by force. Finally safe in the alley the bird sat closely observed by each and everyone of us. It's parents came and inspected it closely and aside from being shocked and not too bright he seemed okay. Later I watched them boost him up into the tree. Last Friday morning the idiot bird came back for a visit. Maybe he wanted to say thanks but I suspect he's just a dim bulb even for a bird. He allowed me to snap a picture of him before he shat all over the mums and flew off making several intermediate stops on various plants to gain altitude and was gone.