For The Birds

This story is a sleeper. Little birds gathering territorially on a telephone-pole line, adjusting their positions as each new one arrives. Suddendly a big crow-like bird flaps in and takes a space, forcing the little ones to move aside. Obviously unhappy at this, they begin harrassing big-bird until he loses his balance and falls over, hanging onto the wire by his toes, upside down. Little birds laugh hysterically, but gradually the line begins to sag until the crow touches the ground, little birds slid up against his feet. Big bird lets go, the wire becomes a sling-shot which flings little birds into the sky. Big bird lays there laughing hysterically as little birds, shorn of their feathers, come plunging back to earth around him. A quick, but beautifully planned sequence with an absolutely unpredictable punch line.