[on the phone]
Oh Father, there were hundreds of them... Just now, not fifteen minutes ago... at the school... the birds didn't attack until the children were outside the school... crows, I think... Oh, I don't know, Father, is there a difference between crows and blackbirds?... I think these were crows, hundreds of them... Yes, they attacked the children. Attacked them!
There is very definitely a difference, Miss... They're both perching birds, of course, but quite different species... I would hardly think that either species would have sufficient intelligence to launch a massed attack. Their brain are not big enough... Birds are not aggressive creatures, Miss. They bring beauty into the world. It is mankind, rather... It is mankind, rather, who insists upon making it difficult for life to exist on this planet. Now if it were not for birds...
Mrs. Bundy, you don't seem to understand. This young lady said there was an attack on the school.
Impossible!
'It's the end of the world.' Thus sayeth the Lord God unto the mountains and the hills, and the rivers and the valleys. Behold I, even I shall bring a sword upon ya. And I will devastate your high places. Ezekiel, chapter six.
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink.
Isaiah, chapter five. It's the end of the world.
I hardly think a few birds are going to bring about the end of the world.
These weren't a few birds.
I didn't know there were many crows in Bodega Bay this time of year.
The crow is a permanent resident throughout his range. In fact, during our Christmas count, we recorded...
How many gulls did you count, Mrs. Bundy?... The ones that have been playing devil with my fishing boats... Oh, a flock of gulls nearly capsized one of my boats. Practically tore the skipper's arm off.
The gulls went after your fish, Mr. Sholes. Really - let's be logical about this.
I think they were after the children...to kill them.
Birds have been on this planet, Miss Daniels, since Archaeopteryx, a hundred and forty million years ago. Doesn't it seem odd that they'd wait all that time to start a...a war against humanity.
Your captain should have shot at them... Gulls are scavengers anyway. Most birds are. Get yourselves guns and wipe them off the face of the earth.
That would hardly be possible... Because there are eight thousand, six hundred and fifty species of birds in the world today, Mr. Carter. It is estimated that five billion, seven hundred and fifty million birds live in the United States alone. The five continents of the world...
Kill 'em all. Get rid of them. Messy animals.
...probably contain more than a hundred billion birds.
It's the end of the world.
Those gulls must have been after the fish.
Of course.
Are the birds gonna eat us, Mommy?
[explaining that birds of different species never flock together]
The very concept is unimaginable. Why, if that happened, we wouldn't have a chance! How could we possibly hope to fight them?
