The Eagles Joke

Your job is to figure out what's funny about this joke. There actually is something (moderately) funny about it, but it's hidden. The person who told it to me (long, long ago) mentioned that it was used at Cambridge University as a sort of IQ test for first-year students. Do NOT bother making random guesses; once you have it, you'll know without a doubt that it's correct. As a free hint, this joke has nothing to do with the Eagles that you might hear on your car stereo. It's definitely referring to the birds and not the band.

Two mountain climbers are climbing a mountain in Scotland. They're really high up, right at cloud level, and they notice some eagles flying around. Now, one of the two guys has never seen a real live eagle before; so he gets very excited, and accidentally falls over a cliff (and drags the other guy with him, because they're roped together). So, they fall down, and die instantly. Then, after a while, their souls start floating up towards Heaven. And on their way up, they see those same eagles again! So one of them says, "Ah!! Eagles!!!" But the eagles, being polite, said nothing.

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