Hit in the Where‽ with a What‽

I went to my nieghbors house to return a large stack of maps and books that comprise a (more or less) compendium of the glaciers in Greenland. When I arrived in their driveway, I found them milling about the garden with a screwdriver, making menasing gestures towards the bird house.

A slight correct: the blue bird house.

The were about to take a peek to see if there were (maybe) some baby bluebirds in the house.

I neglected to ask what made the house so appealling to blue birds. To me, it was just another bird house.


Of the many things that were in the house, blue birds were not on the list. There was a large ant nest, a bird nest on top, and baby sparrows on top of that. The baby sparrows were trying hard to appear dead and boring. My irstwhile nieghbor decide that everything not a blue bird in the blue bird house would have to go. With a gloved hand, she evactuated the bird house. Baby sparrows went in all directions. One hit me in the chest before landing and running off into the bushes.

I have never been hit in the chest with a sparrow before.





Sidenote to PETA people: The apparent cruelty toward sparrows in this discussion is not my own, and not along the course of action I would follow in my nieghbors situation. While evacuating the bird house, I was politely informed that sparrows abuse blue birds at every turn, and that if you want blue birds, you must be vicious towards sparrows. Given that the young ones were nearly flying, and there is a fox is trying to feed a litter of kits (and won't shut up until she's done, another story), please do not be too upset about the plight of the sparrows. They have an even chance.