The fertile land of Killingworth is brimming with crops to harvest, and birds feast happily on wheat, corn, and rye. But the townsfolk are fed up with the birds’ stealing their crops. And among the disenchanted is the influential farmer Squire Case. Resolved to rid the community of the pests, he calls a town meeting and proclaims that all adult birds should be killed and their young left to die of starvation. However, the squire’s own daughter, Almira; the shy and lovesick schoolmaster, Noah; and the kind-hearted neighborhood children come up with a plan to rescue the orphaned fledglings.