A few years ago, I found a dead hawk in my backyard. I took a feather and brought it to the university to have it reduced to bones. In a week it was done, and I had the skeleton.
Its wing bones and legs were broken, snapped in half
(more) by a cat or a car or a window.
But the rest of it, was amazing. The claws and beak were still razor sharp. The bones were fine and slim, hollow like any other birds. I could see how easily the joints still moved, connected with the thinnest strands of muscle.
I was in awe, but it still made me sad.(less)