"What, like a pajock? No, larger, I warrant thee." Claudius does, as it happens, have a certain kinship with birds, whether they're garden visitors or caged pets. There's something entirely delightful about the image of one bowing, large enough to ride -- and it annoys him only slightly that his other self grew up in a world of such commonplace wonders. The same could be said of him, he supposes, in a world of peacocks and cassowaries. "Hebona is what I named my poison. What a whimsical man, to give that name to his mount."