Du Maurier uses the setting to reinforce a sense of menace. Her descriptions of the weather and the elements suggest that these forces are working in tandem with the birds. Nat notes the abrupt change in the weather, which he considers "unnatural" and "queer" the night before the first attack. He exclaims that "never had he known such cold" as the wind seems to "cut him to the bone" much like the birds plan to do.
The sea and the wind appear to be empathetic to the birds, almost as though they are participants in the attacks. Nat notes "there was some law the birds obeyed, and it was all to do with the east wind and the tide." The gulls "ride the seas" before they come into land, and their attacks are timed.....
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