if all the cardinals
in all the trees
of the mountain ranges
where they sit in creature comforts
shitting rapidly
on the forest leaves and floor
took off one into the air
there and another here
etc. and so forth
and so on into the night
all night long into the day
all night and all day
day in day out
for a year or more
countless cardinals
would be flying at this very moment

statistical samplings however
could give a very fair estimate
with a margin of error
not exceeding
say five per cent
of the actual total