In the opening pages of the story, the writer uses language like "raced," "wheeling," "flocking," "hitting," "swerving," and "dived" to describe the birds. Language like this is dynamic and often has connotations of violence. The repetition of the -ing suffix also implies that the birds are continually moving and never still. This impression is emphasized by the repetition of "restless." Indeed, the "restless" is used five times in the first two pages to describe the birds, and a sixth time if we include the noun form of the word, "Restlessness."

Later in the story, a news announcer describes a sky ominously filled with birds, and he says that "it seemed as if the city was covered by a vast black cloud." This simile, comparing the birds to "a vast black cloud," indicates the huge number of birds that have gathered. A "black cloud" also suggests a storm to come, and so the image is even more ominous.

One of the characters in the story later tries to kill the birds with a gun, and the narrator asks, "What use was a gun against a sky of birds?" The writer uses a metaphor here because the image emphasizes the sheer number of birds and thus the threat posed by them. The rhetorical question in this example also implies that it is obvious that a gun will pose no threat to the birds, thus emphasizing the collective power of the birds.