In which I confess my crimes

Cullen and I were talking about the Migratory Birds Treaty and we couldn't really figure it out. So I looked it up and was shocked to find two birds on the list.

Mourning Dove

American Crow

I owned both of these birds when I was a teen back in California. When we lived in Montebello with my grandmother I found a mourning dove with clipped wings on a fence one day and took it in. I also ended up with some other kind of pigeon or dove with purple feathers. That one had been shot through the chest and its breast was a mass of rotting flesh. I debrided it, disinfected it and took care of it until it was healed. Then I took it outside and tossed it up in the air and it took off like an arrow and flew away, not stopping until it was out of my sight.

The crow I found in our front yard when we were living in Santa Ana. Maybe it had a broken wing. I don't remember. It couldn't fly, I know that. I took care of that bird also. It was enormous. It would sit on my shoulder and was taller than my head...

Apparently I broke the law when I cared for both of those birds.