FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCAWith an Introduction by ''Britain''s most sophisticated film critic'' David Thomson, THE TIMES''A remarkable imagination continually provokes both pity and terror'' OBSERVER ''One of the last century''s most original literary talents'' DAILY TELEGRAPH''She wrote exciting plots . . . a writer of fearless originality'' GUARDIAN ''How long he fought with them in the darkness he could not tell, but at last the beating of the wings about him lessened and then withdrew . . .''A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man''s sense of dominance over the natural world.