tul: Asii-eui.oLULD ok ukav j'AKKur. ;j41 



sitics. Tliis \vu leani from the lai-o-c sums which have at all times been offered and paid 

 for highly-gifted or well-taught individuals. Even as early as a.d. 1500, we read of a 

 parrot at Eome, supposed to be of this species, for which one hundred gold pieces were 

 given by a cardinal. Its merits, however, appear to have been of a kind well calculated 

 at that period to create an unusual degree of astonishment, and a feeling of the mar- 

 vellous, as it is said to have learned to repeat with clearness, and without hesitation, the 

 whole of the Apostles' Ci-ced. "\Villughbj% also, in his ol;l and 'excellent work on 

 Ornithology, mentions the high prices brought by parrots of various species in Holland 

 and other parts of the Continent. 



A person named O'Kelly had an affection for a parrot, which is stated to have been 

 a A'ery remarkable bird. He gave fifty guineas for it at Bristol, and paid the 

 expenses of the woman who brought it up to town. It is reported not onlj' to have 

 uttered what is usually termed " everything," but to have sang with great coi-reetness 

 a variety of tunes, and beat time as he sang ; and if perchance he mistook a note in 

 the tune, he returned to the bar wherein the mistake arose, and corrected himself, still 

 beating the time with the utmost exactness. He sang, it is said, any tune desired, fully 

 imderstanding the request made. 



There is one, however, which is occasionally brought from Brighton to Hampton Court, 

 that appears to equal it in intelligence and power of imitation. Mr. Jesse says : — 

 " I have seen and heard so much of this bird, that I requested the sister of its 

 owner to furnish me with some particulars respecting it, and I now give the account 

 in her own agreeable manner of stating it. I will only add, that its accuracy need not 

 bo doubted. 



" As you wished me to write down whatever I could collect aboiit ray sister's wondei'ful 

 parrot, I proceed to do so, only promising that I will tell you nothing but what I can 

 vouch for having myself heard. Her laugh is quite extraordinary, and it is impossible 

 not to help joining in it oneself, more especially when in the midst of it she cries out, 

 ' Don't make me laugh so ; I shall die, I shall die ;' and then continues laughing moi-e 

 violently than before. Her crying and sobbing are curious, and if you say, ' Poor PoU, 

 what is the matter?' she says, 'So bad, so bad; got such a cold;' and after crying for 

 some time, will gradually cease, and, making a noise like drawing a long breath, say, 

 'Better now,' and begin to laugh. 



" The first time I ever heard her speak was one day when I was talking f.o the maid at 

 the bottom of the stairs, and heard wliat I then considered to be a child call out, ' Payne' 

 (the maid's name), 'lam not well, I am not well :' and on my saying, ' AVhat is the 

 matter with that child ? ' she replied, ' It is only the parrot ; she always does so, when I 

 leave her alone, to make me come back ;' and so it proved, for on her going intd the 

 room the parrot stopped, and then began laughing quite in a jeering waJ^ 



" It is singular enough, that ^^•henever she is affronted in any way she begins to cry, 

 and when pleased, to laugh. If any one happens to cough or sneeze, she says, ' "What a 

 bad cold.' One day, when the children were playing with her, the maid came into the 

 room, and on their repeating to her .several times things which the parrot had said. Poll 

 looked up and said quite plainly, ' No, I didn't.' Sometimes, when she is inclined to bo 

 mischievous, the maid threatens to beat her, and she often says, ' No you won't.' She 

 calls the cat very plainl)^ saying, ' Puss, puss,' and then answers, 'Mew;' but the most 

 amusing part is, that whenever I want to make her call it, and to that purpose say, 

 ' Puss, puss,' myself, she always answers, ' Mew,' till I begin mewing ; and then she 

 begins calling ' Puss' as cpiick as possible. She imitates every kind of noise, and barks 

 so naturally that I have known her to set all the dogs on the parade at Hampton Court 

 barking ; and I dare say, if the truth was known, wondering what was barking at them ; 

 and the consternation I have seen her cause in a party of cocks and hens, by her 



