44 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



in value in this case, great importance must be attached to 

 teaching every parrot not to be in the least disturbed by the 

 presence of a new comer. 



Amongst the dealers and parrot trainers of the seaport 

 towns a mode of proceeding is frequently adopted which I 

 must at least mention, even though I can by no means recom- 

 mend it. The cage is covered during the whole time of 

 training with a cloth, so that the parrot — like young canaries 

 in the box in which they are taught to sing — sits almost in 

 complete darkness, and every disturbance and distraction 

 being thus prevented, the whole attention of the bird is 

 directed to its talking lessons. 



I consider it much more advisable to place a tamed trained 

 speaking parrot beside a wild and frightened bird. All large 

 parrots, especially the short-tailed species, are really clever 

 birds ; they soon see that no harm happens to their com- 

 panion, imitate its quietness, and often lose their wildness 

 in an astonishingly short time. They also learn from it much 

 faster than from the trainer to imitate human words, &c. 

 Thus, a Mealy Amazon Parrot, which was clever in speaking 

 and singing, taught a Blue-fronted Amazon to speak just 

 as well. The Baroness von Siegroth gave a Grey Parrot a 

 young Amazon to teach. It repeated words to its pupil for 

 a time, and when the latter did not learn them the Grey 

 Parrot cried out, " Blockhead ! " and turned away con- 

 temptuously. Later on, when the Amazon had learnt several 

 things, partly from its companion and partly from its owner, 

 the two parrots held conversations early in the mornings, 

 when they thought they were unnoticed. The lady heard 

 the following conversation one morning . Eosa (this was the 

 name of the Grey) — " Have you any money ? " Coco (this 

 was the Amazon), in a sorrowful tone — " No." Eosa — 



"Eosa comes from " Coco — "Africa." Eosa — "The 



Emperor William!" Coco — "Long life to him." Eosa — 

 "Battalion!" Coco — "March." On the other hand, in oppo- 

 sition to this last recommendation, it is necessary at the beginning 

 of the training to avoid placing two or more untrained parrots 

 in the same or adjoining rooms, for they disturb each other, 

 and encourage each other to scream. 



Whoever has an excellent speaker, especially a Grey Parrot, a 

 large Levaillant's Amazon, or some similar parrot, often becomes 

 (it may be involuntarily) quite enthusiastic about the talented 



