When I was a kid, we had a budgie that was similarly set upon by the cat. The bird disappeared completely, and since the cat was an outdoor cat (who had temporarily been let inside,) a very good birder, AND since we frequently forgot to put the screens down when we opened windows, we were completely certain that the bird had met an untimely death.
Three days later we were sitting at the dinner table, and the bird saunters out from under the refrigerator. I suppose he was down there cleaning up the forgotten crumbs the entire time.
Stupid bird.