Antain’s unthinking and unwavering belief in the Witch’s existence is, at this point, a comfort—but the madwoman seems aware of the fact that there is no witch as Antain thinks of her, and the real antagonist is actually somewhere in the Tower. Though the birds are symbolic of the madwoman’s hope, attacking Antain with them effectively robs Antain of some of his hope. It shows him that there is a far greater enemy in the Tower, even if he wrongly believes at this point that the enemy is the madwoman.