Help Me, Please!!!

Yesterday, in need of some therapeutic gardening and a sense of order in my life, I potted my tomato seedlings and basil. The weather is now consistently warm enough and their little baby roots were sticking out of the bottom anyways.
This morning, having woke before dawn starving, I snuck outside with a cup of coffee in my hands to check my little babies and watch the sun rise.
....And found 4 of my little babies had been picked off at the soil level and left for dead but some kind of sadistic (and wasteful) creature. I could see if somebody needed what I had but this was a senseless killing.

Later in the day, I discovered that my attacker is a Grackle ( "discovered" in the sense that I watch the little piss-ant snip off another precious plant).

I realize probably only netting will protect my urban garden at this point. And, until then, I've been waiting by the door with a pellet gun, hoping for a chance to pick off the little assassin.

I guess what I want to know is WHY is this bird killing-but not taking-the plants? He seems to be uninterested in my basil (which is only slightly taller right now than the tomatoes). 


If any body has any ideas, I would love to hear them. In the meantime, I need to fill another clip with pellets and take the wind into better account.