The big-uns were put upstairs with us along with the old and deformed ones of all types. Russian children came in groups. The little Russian girls, blond haired, blue eyed and some green eyed, all dressed in their homemade long dresses and oohed and ahhhed and batted their little blond eyelashes at the birds. It was quite a sight. After all, the only birds these little ones ever see are the ones who land up in the chicken soup.
Pagans are crazy folk.
The little boys would come and though they didn't oohhh and ahhhh as their sisters and cousins did, they managed to leave with eyes big and tell their parents all about the pagans who keep birds for fun and never eat them. Well, the closest I can reason is that one of the little ones must have gone home with the smell of bird on them. Within a week, there were kitty noses pressed tightly against all the windows downstairs. Including my office of the time. Hitchcock would have been proud.