16 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



of an excellent, gifted, and well-taught parrot, to find that 

 it will not, for the first few daj's, or, it may be, weeks, 

 utter a word. Therefore, we may consider that these birds 

 only speak or show off their powers in any direction when 

 they feel physically quite well, safe, and comfortable. A 

 proof of the mental endowments of the bird lies in the fact 

 that with sharp wit it notices the alterations of its surround- 

 ings, becomes used by degrees to the new circumstances, and 

 then begins to feel at ease. I would beg my reader to turn 

 for further information on this point to the section upon 

 " Taming and Training." 



All parrots are conveyed wholesale in wooden chests, which 

 are only wired in the front. As a rule, we find the recog- 

 nised practical arrangement that the front wired side is so 

 sloped off that one can see where to throw the food, and, 

 at the same time, the sby birds can withdraw to the back- 

 ground. The door is either placed in front in the bars or 

 in the boards at the back, and is usually only just large 

 enough for a bird to get through. There are no vessels for 

 food, which ,is simply thrown on the floor. The large parrots 

 mostly, as before mentioned, get no water at all, or it is only 

 put in for them in earthen jars once or twice a day. In the 

 cages of the lesser and smallest kind there usually hang 

 simple jars or pots, which, unfortunately, are almost inva- 

 riably fixed, so that they cannot be cleaned during the whole 

 journey. Most cages are not even fitted with an arrange- 

 ment for cleaning, so that the dirt, husks, and other refuse, 

 as well as the excretions, lie rotting and infecting the air. 

 Of late the cages sent out by the wholesale dealers for the 

 sea voyage are so arranged that there is a movable border 

 of about lin. to l^in. in width set in the front edge, close 

 to the floor, through the opening of which the dirt is drawn 

 out every day by means of an iron hook. Miss Christian 

 Hagenbeck and others send out with their buyers very prac- 

 tically arranged cage chests, capable of being disjointed ; 

 therefore, I may with pleasure mention that there is on the 

 part or many an earnest endeavour to abolish, or at least to 

 mitigate, the evils mentioned. Naturally, there is still much 

 left to be desired in this respect. 



For carriage inland, whether it be from the dealer to the 

 amateur, or vice versa, the cages generally used are very suit- 

 able, but otherwise appear very rough. They consist of a 



