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Donald Leach's avatar

Actually, how many eagles does one see in an urban environment? Plus, they're both big birds!

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Melissa Rossi's avatar

Well, this was 1840, when rich people had menageries, there weren't animal rights, and in Paris you could find monkeys and bears performing on the streets, though I'm not sure what the situation was in London.

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Javier Truben's avatar

I found extremely funny in this lovely installment the following: "And this time, they even brought along a live “eagle” for dramatic effect, though by some accounts, it was actually a vulture as an eagle proved too hard for Persigny to find." Geez Louise! How could be that people so gullible! Did they paint the claws with a coat of white paint? I'm curious!

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Melissa Rossi's avatar

Anything involving Persigny was bound to be a joke. I didn't put in the part where they were trying to train it by putting hamburger on Louis-Napoleon's shoulder, because they wanted the bird to roost there regally during their overthrow procession. I believe in the middle of the mayhem it flapped off.

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Javier Truben's avatar

It seems to me they were devoted readers of the fakes that in the Roman Empire were considered omens by the plebs.

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