The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

Nat realizes that the kitchen, being the most central room in the house, is also the safest, and so brings his family there to hide for the night. It is believed that radio silence is imperative if safety is to be regained. In an unprecedented measure the radio station then goes off the air, and will resume broadcasting in the morning. People are told to stay in their homes because of the number of birds swooping to attack. He walks home and manages to get into the house in the nick of time as a cloud of gulls begin to attack him with their vicious pointed beaks.īBC Radio announces that a national state of emergency has been declared. He offers Ned a ride as well but Ned declines. Although Mr Trigg seems completely unbothered by the news reports and is actually looking forward to shooting at the birds if it becomes necessary. When he sees his boss, Mr Trigg, driving by in the car, he persuades him to give Jill a ride home. Nat picks his daughter Jill up from the bus stop after school and begins to shield her body with his to protect her from impending bird attacks. He boards up the windows of his house, and blocks the chimney so birds cannot enter that way either. When he gets home he catches a report on the radio that states bird attacks all over Britain. Despite his co-workers' scepticism and disinterest in the birds, Ned learns that he is not alone in noticing their newly aggressive behavior. When he walks to the sea later he sees a line of seagulls sitting on the water waiting for the rising of the tide. Nobody he works with seems very impressed with his story of the birds flocking into his house.

He tells his wife as much too, calming her fears by telling her the birds are restless because of the changes in the weather.

However, in the morning, the birds leave the house, which makes Ned think that they were seeking warmth, out of the cold. Throughout the night the avian invasion continues there are birds swooping in and out of his children's bedrooms which scares them. When he goes to see what is making the noise he sees a bird, and when he opens the window the bird pecks aggressively at his hand, making it bleed.

Ned believes it is the extra cold weather that is making them behave this way.

One day he notices that many of the birds that fly over the peninsula where he lives with his family are acting very strangely. Nat Hocken has just returned from action in World War Two he was wounded and is living on his military pension which he subsidizes by working part-time for a farm owner nearby. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Ĭornwall, a coastal county in the south-east of England, is cold during the winter, but in early December there is a sudden cold snap making the weather even more frigid than usual. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier