Peisetairos responds to the embassy's offer by saying that he and the birds did not start the war. The humor here lies in the fact that, as Dunbar notes,
[33] the Athenians often said the same to the Peloponnesians in the course of the war; to be sure, it sounds particularly Periklean. At Thuk. 1,144,2 Perikles says as much to the Athenians with regard to beginning a war with Sparta (pol°mou d¢ oÈk írjomen, érxom°nou! d¢ émunoÊmeya). This is surely an echo of 1,53,4 where the Athenians say the same to the Peloponnesians with regard to the dispute over Korkyra: oÎte êrxomen pol°mou, Œ êndre! PeloponnÆ!ioi, oÎte tå! !pondå! lÊomen. In
Birds Peisetairos is being facetious (and Dunbar sees this
[34]) and tricky since in the same breath he says nËn t' §y°lomen... which quickly covers up his obvious deceit and moves diplomatically toward his demands (tå d€kaia).