"The Birds" is a horror story by the British writer Daphne du Maurier, first published in her 1952 collection "The Apple Tree". It is the story of a farmhand, his family, and his community that are attacked by flocks of birds in "kamikaze" fashion. The story is set in du Maurier's home county of Cornwall shortly after the end of the Second World War. By the end of the story it becomes clear that all of Britain is under aerial assault.