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and the purchaser is lucky if the bird does not bite 

 everyone and anyone who comes near the cage. It is 

 hardly likely that anyone would, for a sovereign, part 

 with an entertaining pet, and I do not think anyone 

 will deny that a parrot who really talks is about as 

 amusing as anything one can keep. 



If you cannot get a friend to bring home a bird 

 from Africa, choose a young imported bird which does 

 not aspire to the title " linguist." Furthermore, wild- 

 ness should be no drawback, as parrots are from my 

 experience not naturally bad tempered birds, and wild- 

 ness will soon be overcome by kind and gentle treat- 

 ment. B}^ kindness I do not mean the pernicious 

 habit of feeding the bird at every opportunity, which 

 is apparently to some people the very acme of kind- 

 ness to birds. 



We will now suppose you have bought your parrot. 

 In all probability, if a young bird and wild, she will 

 treat you to a very realistic imitation of the dying 

 screams of a "stuck" pig. This I think must be the 

 the natural curse of a parrot, as I have found all 

 young wild birds indulge in it. It is a most fearsome 

 sound and the only way to check it is to cover up the 

 cage. When buying a parrot, the approximate age 

 can be told by the eye. In a bird over twelve months 

 the eye is grey, but in a j-ounger one it is brown. 

 After you have had the bird about a week you will 

 probably find that the screams are not indulged in 

 when you feed the bird. This I think ma}^ have given 

 rise to the feeding practice to which I have already 

 alluded. If however the parrot persists in screaming, 

 cover her up, gently, do not flourish the cover about ; 

 indeed everything should be done in a quiet way so as 



