"He's the sharpest of foxes,
all ingenuity, a dead-shot, am old hand, the
sieved meal of subtlety."
Tereus says this to the Chorus-Leader when asked if Peisetaerus is insane based what he is presenting as his idea for them to be the new gods, but Tereus knows that his idea is one that will allow the birds to reign and thus sets up Peisetaerus as a man that must be listened to.
"How could these men ever give us any valuable instruction or advice? They are the enemies of our feathers and our forefathers!"
Chorus-Leader, the head of the birds says this to Tereus and the statement represents how man has fooled his kind before. The expectation then is for deceit to come once more.
"That's right. By words a man is uplifted and his mind is made to soar aloft. And in the same way I want to give wings to your mind by my good advice, and make you turn to a lawful occupation."
Peisetaerus says this to the Informer who has come in order to get wings for his profession, and Peisetaerus then tells him the wings he must receive are ones that permit him to give up his awful profession and change his ways.
