Almost
Some birds have a better sense of smell than others depending on the size of their nostrils and olfactories.
Putting it back in the nest would not have done it any harm though.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 9:54, 2 replies)

yes, science
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 12:02, closed)

I'm not sure
if putting it back in the nest would have solved the problem. Wild animals expend a lot of energy in raising their young and will not tolerate waste. Once a bird realises it has been rumbled by a top predator they will abandon the nest and all in it. No sense hanging around and risking being scoffed when you can cut your losses and start anew.

This last-resort mentality also resides in mammals. If rodents feel threatened by any sort of predator they occasionally devour their young in order to waste as little of the precious energy they have expended on them previously.

The OP started to do the right thing in putting it in a box. The error lay in abandoning it outside the rescue centre. You never know, this story could have had a happy ending and a worker may have discovered it before it became dehydrated and dedded.

Or it could quickly have become fox nosh. nom nom.
(mersault, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 12:39, closed)

I recently saw something on tv
where they put orphaned Peregrine chicks into a surrogate nest.
There was only one chick when the parents flew off for food and three when they returned.
It was explained that birds can't count and smell did not play a factor at all. The chicks were reared successfully.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 13:16, closed)