A Mummified Bird...

...whose feet are tied together with a golden string.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=4165

The Osiris Bird is a mummy about the size of your hand. Unwrap the cerements. Untie the golden string around its feet. Put a little water in its beak. The wings will twitch and stretch. Dust soon falls off the wings. You hold in your hand an unremarkable brown-feathered bird - quite alive.

A short time later, the bird begins to sing. When it is ready to fly, just tell the Osiris Bird where you want it to go. It will sit on a ledge and listen. When it returns, it will give you a full report. Others will hear a birdsong; you will hear the conversation it overheard.

When you are done, wrap the golden thread back around the bird's feet. Be sure to feed it seeds or a juicy worm before you put the string around its feet, though. Birds like this sleep best on a full stomach. On an empty one, its spirit takes flight. Once the Osiris Bird is fed and its feet are tied, it will desiccate and re-mummify in a few minutes. Wrap it carefully. If you are going on a long journey, use a casket like this one to store the bird safely.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/02/pictures/
120207-egypt-bird-mummies-snails-fed-science-ibis-ancient/#

Mechanics: An Air 4 spirit lives within the Osiris Bird. It will be loyal to the one who gives the bird water and food. The bird is relatively small, but it can be destroyed and the spirit released in the normal ways birds are dispatched: arrows, slingshots, a bird of prey, a cat, or a cruel, crushing hand.