THE SPEAKING PAEROTS. 



in countless variety — among which there are almost more 

 talkers than plumage birds. 



It is not parrots only that are capable of learning to 

 pronounce human words, but a considerable number of other 

 foreign and native birds, which, however — as far as our pre- 

 sent knowledge extends — are limited to the members of certain 

 families. Nevertheless, we must not maintain the latter opinion 

 as an invariable rule, for of late important exceptions have 

 come to light. Until lately, the birds acknowledged to be 

 gifted with speech belonged only to the ranks of the parrots, 

 particularly the larger species, besides the crow species, the 

 raven and the starling ; but lately finches have been added, 

 while, in several cases, canaries have learnt to speak. The 

 parrot tribe is certainly the most noted and important of talking 

 birds, and it is also true that besides the well-known clever 

 talkers, some individuals related to most of the remaining 

 species — even to the Cockatiel, or Wedge-tailed Cockatoo, and 

 down to one of the smallest of all, the well-known Undulated 

 Grass Parrakeet — have proved themselves to be gifted with 

 speech. 



Here I would wish to give a general description of all 

 parrots, only the space which I have at my command would 

 not nearly suffice. I, therefore, respectfully refer the reader 

 to my work, " The Foreign Cage Birds," vol. iii, (the Parrots). 

 and "Manual for Bird Fanciers," vol. i. I will only notice 

 here the chief peculiarities of these extremely interesting birds : 

 but, of course, I shall enter more fully into particulars con- 

 cerning their care and training. 



At present there are upwards of 400 kinds of parrots known. 

 A fixed and exact number I am not able to state, because, 

 on the one hand, newly-discovered species come daily under 

 our notice, and, on the other hand — and chiefly — because there 

 are a great many about which ornithologists do not agree 

 whether they belong to a real species, or whether they may 

 only be reckoned as varieties peculiar to certain localities, or 

 merely as chance diversities. The home of the parrot extends 

 over all quarters of the globe, with the exception of Europe ; 

 but it is chiefly in tropical countries. So large a family of 

 varied and highly interesting birds must naturally, from ancient 

 times, have offered manifold charms, to the savant, and 

 it is not surprising, therefore, that we have numerous works 

 on the subject. Among all the writings which deal with it, 



