(Taken from Chapter 1)

              Robert then remembered he had a twenty minute drive to school, and realized he better get moving if he wanted to be there by 7:00 p.m.  He walked into the bathroom, slipped off his jeans and stepped into the shower.

  As the hot water began too wash away his backyard chill, he thought about the many similarities between birds and humans -

Both birds and humans have an agenda to get their needs met.  Wood Warblers were much like middleclass Americans. They have wonderful red, black, brown, yellow, and white colors. They also had different cultures that made each of them special in their own way.

Some Warblers preferred wearing wing-bars and eye-rings, while others dressed in caps and hoods.  What made them similar to middleclass humans was they had   good work habits, took care of their own, and seldom exploited birds of other species.

Crows, Jays, Magpies, Cowbirds, and Vultures had a much different agenda.  Their traits make them “Bird World” predators and freeloaders. 

Robert paused, wondering if his life’s experiences with exploitive people had given him a cynical insight on birds - 

At least birds have characteristics that identify their true nature. Humans aren’t so lucky!

He decided to match those people having less desirable traits to freeloading birds, and began organizing them into groups -

The people who unfairly manipulated our laws for financial gain will become the Jays, and the big birds that use propaganda to further their financial and political interests will become the Crows.

The Lobbyists who promote legislation favoring special interests harming middleclass Warblers will become the Magpies, and those special interests that use Magpies to unfairly manipulate the Jays and Crows to increase their stock portfolios will become the Vultures and the Cowbirds.