Birds that Talk and Mimic 



its greater size and strength, is the piping crow, 

 the " magpie " of Australia, which is always on 

 view at the crows' cages at the Zoo. 



This handsome pied bird has a beautiful whistle 

 as his natural note, and in captivity he learns to 

 pipe tunes and to speak with great readiness, and 

 is very ready to show off his accomplishments in 

 either direction. 



One I knew in Calcutta used to say, "Who are 

 you ? " to every one who entered his master's 

 yard, and another at the Zoo some years ago used 

 to be always whistling a tune. He did rather 

 too much of this, as a matter of fact, for he only 

 knew a line and a half, and used to keep on 

 repeating this ad nauseam. 



The late Mr. A. D. Bartlett told me he at first 

 had the bird near his quarters, but had to send 

 him down to the aviaries, for, as he said, " he 

 used to start at daybreak and keep up that tune 

 over and over again, and I used to lie in bed 

 and sweat, waiting for him to begin ! " 



The last talker I allude to belonged to a species 

 which, like the parson-bird, is little known away 

 from its home. This is the bird called in books 

 the greater racket-tailed drongo, and, in its native 

 Indian home, the bhimraj. 



This bird belongs to the shrike tribe, and is 

 glossy-black, with two long feathers in its tail, 

 wiry with tasselled tips. 



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