Chapter 4 Summary

The narrative returns to the scene at the bus stop. James wants to tell his mother that the bus is still not coming, but he knows that he would simply be repeating an obvious fact. His mother would rather not talk than say something that is unnecessary. Instead, he watches the birds out on the water, the "pool-doos." He wonders if you can eat pool-doos and recounts the numerous other kinds of birds he has eaten; including, owls and blackbirds. This thought causes him to remember a painful incident, where his mother made him kill two redbirds that had gotten into his trap. James didn't want to do this, but his mother insisted, and no amount of argument from James was going to change her mind. He keeps telling her, "I can't kill him....," but she forces him use a fork to wound...