• Taxidermy Bird

Yes , you read that right . If you can get your hands on a taxidermy pigeon , you ’ re all set !

• Bread Crumbs

Or anything that might attract some birds

• Burlap Bag

Basically a bag to snag your new friend up

• Extra Cell

If you want to hear your pigeon coo from inside the bag

I think seeing his collection is what led me to start my own , as this type of curiosity has fascinated me since childhood . The ability to examine the intricate details of these normally wild specimens up close was not only fascinating but , for some reason , expanded my appreciation of the beauty in the little things that surround us daily . So no , I don ’ t find these creepy at all . Au contraire !

I read in a book about the history of magic that , in medieval times , some performers would go so far as to poison an actual bird with just the right dosage so that the poor , unwilling participant would fly to a rooftop and wait for the toxins to overtake it , causing it to fall to the ground . What ’ s the entertainment in this , you ask ? It seems the performer would secretly poison the bird , usually with tainted feed , let it fly away , then locate it . He would then gather a crowd by standing on a wooden box and claiming at the top of his lungs that he had the power to stop the heart of any living being simply by focusing his attention on it . Once a proper crowd had assembled , he would point to the bird and appear to channel his psychic energy toward it . Soon after , when the poison took full effect , the bird would fall to the ground . The performer would then pick it up , leaving the crowd in dismay and disbelief at what they had witnessed . Entertainment was different back then , it seems .