OBSERVATION'S ON THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 537 



as if he were ravished and wanted to express his joy in advance, 

 he would draw back before taking it, and say, in a comical tone, 

 " Hold, my poor Cocotte ! " His manner of thanking in advance 

 is likewise amusing. The expression of his eyes and the pose 

 of his head are all in accord with the tone of his exclamation. 

 When he tastes the plum he utters a series of alis, and produces 

 a kind of warble by prolonging some of his notes and short- 

 ening up others. We find in these examples without doubt that 

 the articulate voice makes us better able to judge the meaning of 

 the impressions that are moving the animal than inarticulate cries, 

 or merely musical sounds. When Jaco met a child for whom he 

 had a great affection, he would promenade on his perch, or turn 

 the wheel, spreading out his tail and ruffiing the feathers of his 

 head, while his eyes grew red with excitement if the child was too 

 slow in bestowing the accustomed caress. Then he would stop, 

 bend down his head, and, looking at his friend, say pleasantly, 

 " Jaco," in a tone and with a manner quite in contrast with the 

 pronunciation of the same word when he was hungry. 



It is not the word he speaks that is of interest ; he might have 

 been taught another, and it would have been the same ; but it is 

 the tone. In this case, too, the articulation gives an easier clew 

 to the meaning the bird seeks to express, having a meaning ac- 

 cording to the manner of pronouncing it, than any isolated, sim- 

 ply musical sound, like the song of the nightingale, canary-bird, 

 and warbler. This became evident to me, not from observing 

 animals for a few moments without seeing them again, but from 

 studying them continuously. 



Jaco did not like solitude, and was talkative and fond of being 

 caressed, like all of his kind. One day when there was no one in 

 the country-house, all having gone out into the garden or the 

 fields, I heard him saying over what few words he knew, in differ- 

 ent inflections. I went quietly into the room where he was, with- 

 out being seen ; but he heard my steps, although I had walked in 

 very cautiously, hoping to surprise him. He ceased his chatter, 

 listened, and, after a silence, pronounced " Jaco " in a low tone, 

 drawing out the end of the word. He listened again, and repeated 

 the word in the same tone ; then, after another silence, repeated 

 it with a rise of the voice I continued observing him, and, as he 

 heard no one, he raised his tone gradually, repeating the same 

 word, and ended at last with a genuine cry of distress. The peo- 

 ple ran in from without, supposing something had happened to 

 him. He then repeated his name in a lower tone, which seemed 

 to indicate his satisfaction at finding his isolation ended. I went 

 in myself, and his prattle unmistakably betrayed his gladness at 

 being no longer alone. 



Is there not in this an act of real intelligence ? While alone. 



