34 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



custom of giving bread soaked in tea or coffee is, in my opinion, 

 most mischievous, for, on the one hand, the small quantity of, 

 it may be, warm fluid cannot satisfy the natural craving, and, 

 on the other, mashy food overloads the stomach, disturbs the 

 digestion, and thus either makes the bird ill, or is insufficient 

 to maintain it in good health for any length of time, especially 

 if, as is often unfortunately the case, it is entirely or even 

 chiefly, fed on it, or if it lives on as much as it can get of this 

 food, and refuses the more wholesome corn diet. 



With regard to drinking water, there are special precautionary 

 measures to be attended to. Just as a human being may become 

 more or less seriously ill if he drinks water from a strange 

 well, without becoming gradually accustomed to it, so is it with 

 birds, particularly with parrots. They should, therefore, at first 

 only be allowed cold water which has been boiled, and not too 

 m.uch at a time, at most five mouthfuls at once, and that about 

 twice daily. By degrees the boiled water may be mixed with 

 common water ; it must not be quite fresh or ice cold, but 

 should have stood about an hour, and have acquired the tempera- 

 ture of the room. Even when the parrot is fully acclimatised it 

 should only get lukewarm water. The smaller species are mostly 

 accustomed to an abundance of drinking and bathing water ; they 

 must, therefore, get it, but always with the precaution that it 

 should be lukewarm. 



CHAP, v.— TAMINQ AND TEAINING. 



Susceptibility of Parrots to Teaching — Taming hy Force — 

 Aptitude for Taming and Teaching — Conditions to he Ob- 

 served — Signs of a Talented Bird — Practical Directions for 

 Training — Differences of Capability in Different Parrots — 

 Mental Endowments oj the Parrot — Understands the Appli- 

 cation of Words. 



The predilection and capability of parrots for imitation are 

 not limited to human words, but extend to all sorts of other 

 sounds. With such gifts a bird may be extremely valuable^ 



