212 HABITS OF BIRDS. 
It is rather a curious circumstance, character- 
izing, it would appear, the mocking-bird, as well as 
our European birds, that the species distingmshed 
for singing seldom learn to imitate human speech; 
while those which do not sing, such as the jay, the 
magpie, and the parrot, are well known as success- 
ful imitators. 
The gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) which be- 
longed to Colonel O’Kelly “not only,” says Bing- 
ley, “repeated a great number of sentences, but 
answered many questions: it was also able to 
whistle many tunes. It beat time with all the ap- 
pearance of science ; and so accurate was its judg- 
ment, that if by chance it mistook a note, it would 
revert to the bar where the mistake was made, cor- 
rect itself, and, still beating regular time, go through 
the whole with wonderful exactness. Its death 
was thus announced in the General Evening Post 
for the 9th of October, 1802: ‘ A few days ago died, 
in Half Moon-street, Piccadilly, the celebrated par- 
rot of Colonel O’Kelly. This singular bird sang a 
number of songs ™ perfect time and tune; she 
could express he: wints articulately, and give her 
orders in a manne) »})proaching nearly torrationali- 
ty. Her age was not known; it was, however, 
more than thirty years, for previously to that pe- 
riod Mr. O’Kelly bought her at Bristol for a hun- 
dred guineas. ‘The colonel was repeatedly offered 
five hundred guineas a year for the bird, by persons 
who wished to make a public exhibition of her; but 
this, out of tenderness to the favourite, he constant- 
ly refused.” 
There are many persons now alive who have 
witnessed these scarcely credible performances. 
Among these, the Rev. W. H. Herbert says: ‘ That 
wonderful bird, Colonel O’Kelly’s parrot, which I 
had the satisfaction of seeing and hearing (about 
the year 1799, if I recollect rightly), beat the time 
always with his foot, turning round upon the perck 
