154 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



As it has of late been often described and observed as a cage 

 bird, I must introduce only one sucli account, and I choose that 

 of Miss M. Eeuleaux, an affectionate and enthusiastic friend of 

 birds : " Our cockatoo, which we have named ' Eosa ' on account 

 of its colour, at first sat still and silent in its cage, and was 

 regarded as dumb. Without really having any belief in its 

 capabilities, I repeated its name to it with a decided pronun- 

 ciation ; but days afterwards there was heard, to our astonish- 

 ment, from the adjoining room, where the cage stood, the word, 

 ' E-r-rosa ! ' After this the bird was no longer considered 

 stupid, but everyone taught it something; thus it soon learnt 

 to say * Come in,' if anyone knocked at the door. In order to 

 make it understand the sense of the word, I used to knock on 

 the food vessel, on which it was at first very frightened, and 

 then drew back some steps with erected crest ; but before long 

 it knocked with its beak itself, and then called out, ' Come in.' 

 The servant, when cleaning the room in the morning, used 

 sometimes to try to get the bird to speak, and, if it maintained 

 an obstinate silence, she would say, ' You are a blockhead ! ' 

 Ere long it would repeat ' Blockhead,' or perhaps only ' Block, 

 block.' Then it learnt several words more or less distinctly, as 

 well as my name, Mathilde, which is difficult to pronounce. 

 This charming bird developed day by day, and we became as 

 fond of it as if it had been a human being. If we left it alone 

 in the room it became silent and gloomy ; but as soon as anyone 

 approached the door it began to scream in order to attract 

 attention ; whoever entered, it became most joyfully excited, and 

 pressed its head against the wires to be scratched. If, however, 

 no one went near, it grew impatient, whistled and piped in a 

 high ke}', and said all the words it could think of. From being 

 caressed it learnt to say by itself, ' Pretty fellow ! pretty fellow ! ' 

 with an especially droll intonation. This affectionate bird 

 unfortunately, soon died of cramp." Observations in many 

 directions have proved that the Eoseate Cockatoo, even if not 

 one of the most capable speakers, still belongs to those cage 

 birds which, on account of their cleverness, drollness, and 

 docility, are especially suited for friendly relations with human 

 beings. Unfortunately, even the tamest and most affectionate 

 give vent at times to their disagreeable cry. It is extremely 

 fond of lying on its back and playing with a piece of wood, or 

 some such thing, in its claws, turns somersaults and does other 

 tricks, and, if it pinches its master's nose or ear for fun, it is 



