TAMING AND TRAINING. 37 



more docile as it becomes more accustomed to its abode, and 

 the more it learns the less frequently is the disagreeable cry 

 heard. 



Dealers in a small way of business tame parrots, as a 

 rule, by force, in a similar manner to the Indian women. 

 Equipped with strong doeskin gloves, the man seizes the bird 

 by the legs, pulls it out of the cage, without heeding its 

 screeching and biting, holds it firmly on the forefinger of the 

 left hand, and strokes it with the right until it yields to its fate 

 and becomes tame and quiet. For this courage is before all 

 things necessary, besides skill, perseverance, patience, and 

 indifference to the great pain which, in spite of the gloves, the 

 bites of the bird cause. The pincer-like form of the parrot's 

 beak produces, when it bites hard, bruises and bleeding wounds, 

 which are very painful and diflScult to heal. Great precaution 

 must be taken against treacherous biting. It has been noticed 

 that, as a rule, the small parrots bite much more frequently 

 and more viciously than the large, for the latter really only bite 

 when they are much enraged, but then, of course, very 

 dangerously. In order to break them off the habit of biting 

 they should be struck with the forefinger on the beak whenever 

 they attempt it. I may here remark that almost all parrots, 

 especially the larger species, are dangerous to other cage birds 

 near them, or which may perhaps fly round the room in which 

 they are. 



Amateurs will also often follow the above mode of proceeding, 

 because, although it requires great exertion, yet it leads to the 

 desired end more quickly than any other course. Mr. Meyer, 

 the Comptroller of the King's Household, in Berlin, relates 

 how he has often done it ; shutting himself up with a totally 

 untrained Grey Parrot in a room, and treating the wild, 

 struggling, screeching, and apparently uncontrollable bird in 

 the manner described, for days if necessary, from morning till 

 night, and even on into the night, until its timidity and defiance 

 were at last conquered and it became tame and docile from 

 weariness and hunger. Taming in this way must be regarded as 

 one of the most difficult tasks in bird training, and I would not 

 therefore recommend it to all amateurs. For if other modes 

 of proceeding be slower and occupy more time, yet they have 

 the advantage of establishing more friendly relations between 

 the man and the bird, whereas this breaking in certainly cannot 

 render the human heart mild and gentle. It also appears to 



