BECOMING AN ILLUSTRATOR 41 



having oily, glossy plumage, while he was almost 

 a constant singer. 



At about this time, a sister living in Michigan 

 sent me a big African parrot. He was a gaudy 

 creature, having a head and shoulders of the love- 

 liest dark bronzy green. The extreme top of his 

 head was pale blue and light yellow, his breast 

 delicate light green, while his extended wings had 

 feathers of blood-red, deep blue, yellow, and 

 green. He was a fluent talker and a great musi- 

 cian, having been carefully trained to whistle a 

 number of tunes that had been taught him with 

 a flute. He was a fine addition to my bird family. 

 When the grosbeak began to sing the canaries 

 joined in; then the Major drowned all of them by 

 his rendition in clear high notes of "The Washing- 

 ton Post" march, which was a favourite perform- 

 ance; but, as in the case of the grosbeak, he could 

 raise the notes high above the piano or flute and 

 still keep them all of perfect tone, accurate measure 

 and inflection, retaining pure sweetness. 



That spring, merely to test his marksmanship, 

 one of my neighbours severed the tiny twigs from 

 which depended the nest of an oriole. In the long 

 fall an unhatched egg and the youngest bird were 

 destroyed, the two remaining seeming perfect and 

 healthy. They were very young and required deli- 

 cate attention and frequent feeding. I knew that 

 in care of the woman of that family, the birds 

 would be dead shortly; so I gave her a dollar for the 



