Study of a Bird

Two days ago I had an injured robin die in my hands, after saving it from a cat.  I think it died of panic, because he was relatively unharmed.
After a rush of sadness, I decided that not putting the body to use as a study would make me a bad artist, even though doing so made me feel a little bit like a bad human.
I’ve never felt a twinge of guilt over studying human corpses for anatomy (which I’ve done), but I know that if one had died in my arms, I certainly would have.
This drawing felt like an homage more than a study.

Click on the arrows in the bottom right corner of the image for full size.