Little Lopsy fluttered  into our home and our hearts one Saturday morning this summer. My husband went out to do something, and when he opened the door there was a great flutter on the ground and something came into the living room. It was clear that whatever it was was hurt. I was in a bit of a shock and didn't know what to do next. Fortunately it calmed down and tried to hide itself in a corner. I realized it was a sparrow chick . There are a few sparrow nests under the roof of our apartment, and this little fellow must have fallen out and hurt itself. It was also very young, and obviously far from ready to leave the safety of the nest. I ran to the place and found a box. Having read somewhere that one shouldn't touch a baby bird with one's hands, I picked the chick up with a hand towel and put it in the box. I placed the box outside the front door in the hope that the parents would try to feed it. They never came near it and I brought it inside. I placed the box on a table and it slept for about twenty hours. We later learned that it is quite normal for a hurt bird to sleep so much after undergoing such a hurt experience. When it finally woke up we carefully examined it for wounds, but fortunately there wasn't any. It had hurt its right wing and leg, which meant it must have landed on its right side when it fell out of the nest. We named it Lopsy. After doing some research we felt there was a chance that it might survive, but we weren't sure that it would ever be able to fly. A hurt bird doesn't stand much of a chance of survival and could fall easy pray  to cats, other animals. Was it fair to allow it to live if it meant keeping it in a cage its whole life? It was a hard decision, but we decided to give it a go.  We started off by dripping drops of water into its mouth. It was very thirsty and drank quite a bit. Next we fed it with bread soaked in water. Our household routine  soon revolved around Lopsy who needed to be fed about every three hours during the day. Fortunately we live on campus and my husband could come home during his breaks to feed our new baby. Soon Lopsy was growing nicely. The bigger it got, the more vocal  it became. There was no doubt as to who was ruling the house.  We remained concerned because its leg did not heal, and its wing seemed quite useless. I took it outside for exercise every day. I also hoped it would get used to the sights and sounds of nature. In the beginning all it was interested in was staying as close to me as possible. Anyway, it got stronger and started running on the grass, and one day Lopsy found a fence it liked. It got to the point where I would leave it outside under its fence for about two hours at a time while I kept an eye on developments from our kitchen window. Soon Lopsy figured out how to get from one branch to another.[:   ] It also got to the point where it could flutter down from my hand to the ground, and I let it do this over and over again to exercise its wings. Then came the day that it actually flew into the fence. We were overjoyed when this happened. Finally it got to the point where I left it outside in its fence all day and night, but I would still go outside to feed it. Lopsy remained vocal and would jumped over for its food as soon as I came into view. I left some bread on the wall next to its fence, but it would have none of it. The little fellow was totally spoilt and wanted to be spoon fed, but I saw him eating quite happily as soon as I left his line of vision. Some of the bigger species of birds were a bit aggressive towards Lopsy, and I continued to keep a close eye on it. Not long after this we saw Lopsy flying without a problem. It still jumped to the side, but that didn't seem to stop it in any way. Other birds seemed quite curious about Lopsy. At first it chased them away if they came too close to its fence, but Lopsy soon seemed to realize that they were of its own kind and it stopped doing so. Then, one day, our fellow left the nest. We never saw it again, but I know Little Lopsy is now leading a happy life. This experience has taught me much. For the couple, among all the household duties, the most important is   _  .
feeding their newly born baby finding a place that could accept Lopsy the work of taking care of Lopsy the routine of cleaning and cooking