Messenger's Hat

Wondrous item, uncommon   Atop this floppy woolen hat is a bird’s nest, occupied by a sparrow. The sparrow is friendly to whoever wears the hat and will ride along in its nest contentedly.   While wearing the hat, you can cast the animal messenger spell at 3rd level from the hat, targeting only the sparrow as the messenger (the sparrow uses the raven’s stat block, without the mimicry trait). After the sparrow delivers a message, it will fly back to its nest. If the sparrow completes a round trip over 12 hours long, it must sleep in its nest for 8 hours before it can be sent on another mission. The sparrow does not require food or water, although it likes to snack on the occasional grub from time to time. If the sparrow dies, or it cannot complete its mission, it will reappear unharmed in the nest at dawn after 1d4+1 days. If you cast the animal messenger spell while wearing the hat and target another creature to be the messenger, the sparrow will fly away and never return, and the hat will lose its magic.   Pilper was the best messenger there ever was. His tiny wings bore him swiftly through dense jungle, over towering mountain peaks, around dark alleyways, and through hell itself to deliver his messages. Nothing could stop him, for he knew the messages entrusted in him were of utmost importance, and he dare not tarry. One day I thought I’d let him rest and send a blue jay in his stead… but alas, he never forgave me, and now I wear this empty nest atop my head in shame.