- Melanie drives up the coast to Bodega Bay.
- You may be saying, hey, nothing much is happening yet in this film. Who cares about the stupid lovebirds? Where's the horror?
- You'd have a point; lots of critics feel that The Birds gets off to a slow start.
- Still driving.
- Still driving.
- Finally, Melanie gets out of the car and goes into the post office to ask where Mitch lives.
- There follows a conversation that goes on forever and ever, designed to provide a logical reason for Melanie to go across the bay to the Brenner house in a boat because Hitchcock thinks that will let him set up some nifty shots.
- You also learn that Melanie is trying to deliver the birds as a surprise gift to Mitch's sister.
- The post office clerk is pretty taken with Melanie. She seems used to people thinking she's pretty.
- Anyway, there's more nattering. The clerk and a visitor can't seem to agree on Mitch's sister's name. Melanie wants to put it on the card.
- The clerk sends Melanie to Annie Hayworth's house. Annie is the schoolteacher, and she'll definitely know Mitch's sister's name.