Interlude: mortem in nocte

Driving home at night, Viktoria and the Android came across a Tawny Frogmouth hunched in the middle of the road near their home.
Often mistaken for owls, Tawny Frogmouths are more closely related to nightjars, not raptors. Their main defence is to close their large orange eyes and pretend to be a tree branch. If this fails, they will open wide their mouths and hiss.
This particular Tawny did neither, only briefly flapping its wings when approached on foot.
Tawnies are territorial, and we feared it was one of the family group that Viktoria had only recently photographed in the back yard.

The Android was able to pick it up easily - never a good sign with a wild bird. A few feathers fluttered loose, but we found no obvious injury. Still, given where it was found, it had most likely been hit by a car, the driver not stopping to help the injured bird.
Not wanting to leave it to be struck by another vehicle or taken by a dingo, we wrapped it up carefully in a towel and took it home. During the short journey, it wriggled in Viktoria's lap, muttering quietly to itself.
We positioned it carefully in a box in a darkened room, hoping that if it was merely stunned it could recover in peace and we could release it.
After feeding the feline hoard and ourselves, we sneaked into the room to check on our unexpected noctural visitor.
Its orange eyes were closed. Its head hung limp and lifeless. Sometime in the intervening hour, it had died.
We dug a deep hole and buried it near where the photograph had been taken.
Sleep peacefully, beautiful bird.
For you, this journey has ended.