We humans can't really provide for them what they need to truly thrive - exercise, nutrition, social behavior with a flock. However, wild animals that become "pets" do well for just so long they seem to wind up in No Man's Land. I think the author does an admirable job of caring for Arnie and certainly without her he would have died in infancy. The bird's name becomes Arnold, and he wins Margarete's heart completely. He and the author's three cats get along very well, as he does with her grandson and his friend. He not only survives, but he learns to talk, keeps her company and entertains her with his comical antics. She holds off her emotions as long as possible, but the little bird is so darned cute. Unfortunately, as these things go, Margarete's intentions were admirable, but unrealistic. She has no intentions of getting attached to him. After several failed attempts to return him to the nest, Margarete decides to bring him into the house and try to care for him until he is able to be returned to the wild. Published in the early '80's, this book was written in the first person by a woman who rescues a newly hatched starling who has fallen out of his nest.
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