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When Lorenzo Daza walked into the entryway, the crows, awake under their sheets, emitted a funereal shriek. "They will peck out your eyes," the Doctor said aloud, thinking of her . . . They saw him appear in the door [upon his return home], his face haggard and his entire being dishonored by the whorish perfume of the crows.

Dr. Juvenal Urbino warns Lorenzo Daza about the viciousness of the crows in Chapter 3, as he leaves their house on the Park of the Evangels, after having shown up, unprovoked, at the house to reexamine Fermina. Fermina rejects his attempt to court her, and slams the window shut in his face. She sarcastically apologizes to Dr. Urbino. When Urbino leaves the Daza's home, mildly drunk, he calls out to Fermina, who does not hear him over her tears of rage, furious at the Doctor and her father for humiliating her. Dr. Urbino persists, but Lorenzo warns him of his daughter's temper. Upon his departure, he hears the "funereal shriek[ing]" of the crows and compares them to women; the birds — like women, Fermina specifically — will peck out one's eyes. Throughout the text, birds are representative of threat and danger, as well as indecency and femininity. Fermina, in essence, represents all of these four meanings to Dr. Urbino; she is the object of his affections, but is vehemently resistant to his advances, and uses "unladylike" methods to ward him off. Most importantly, she poses the threat of breaking not his heart, but his reputation if she is to reject him.

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