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and having heard something about the pugnacious 

 and overbearing habits of the species I dared not 

 introduce him among a lot of small birds engaged in 

 domestic aff^nrs. He therefore had to put up with 

 the limited space afforded by an ordinary Budgerigar 

 cage about 14 inches square. After a preliminary 

 banging about for a few days when anyone came near 

 he gradually steadied down, becoming at last as quiet 

 as a caged Canary. Soon he began to whistle and 

 from the beginning he evinced the mimetic faculty of 

 which I have spoken, and for which I was at that time 

 quite unprepared, sharing as I did the popular belief 

 that only Parrots and some Cockatoos and Macaws 

 were capable of learning to imitate the voices of other 

 races. Having been reared in a country garden he 

 had picked up almost entirely the song of the Thrush 

 and now rendered it in a voice not far behind that 

 of the teacher in qualit}' and timbre. During the 

 continuance of the warm weather his cage was out in 

 the garden all day but after a time when it became 

 colder both he and my Blue-fronted Amazon found 

 permanent quarters in the dining-room, where they 

 had for a companion a particular!}^ accomplished and 

 energetic songster in the person of my favourite 

 Siskin-Canary hybrid. As the days went by Billy 

 became a more and more persistent singer, and in the 

 depth of winter would even treat me to music during 

 my dinner by gaslight, and this although his cage 

 stood on the dining-room table itself. But the most 

 interesting point is that he gradually picked up from 

 the Parrot a number of her sayings and incorporated 

 them with his song, giving the various inflections just 

 as Polly had learnt tliem from different people in the 

 house. For instance " Pretty Polly," " Oh pretty 

 Polly," " Naught}^ gii'l," etc. would each of them 

 be said in two or three different ways, and now and 

 then a couple of bars of " Pop goes the weasel " 

 would be introduced to be followed without an}^ break 



