IMITATION AND MIMICRY. 213 
while singing, and marking the time as it turned. 
This extraordinary creature sang perfectly about 
fifty different tunes of every kind, ‘God save the 
King,’ solemn psalms, and humorous or low ballads, 
of which it articulated every word as distinctly as 
a man could do, without even making a mistake. 
If a bystander satig any part of the song, it would 
pause and take up the song where the person had 
left off without repeating what he had said. When 
moulting and unwilling to sing, it would answer all 
solicitations by turning its back and repeatedly say- 
ing, ‘ Poll’s sick.’ 1 am persuaded that its instructer 
had taught it to beat time.”* 
It would be easy to fill a volume with anecdotes 
of parrots and other speaking birds, though many 
of them are evidently much over-coloured. We 
shall only add one more, on the respectable authority 
of Mr. Syme, who tells us he “ went one morning, 
with a friend, to see a collection of birds belong- 
ing to a gentleman in Antigua-street, Edinburgh, and 
among these were some very fine starlings; one, in 
particular, which cost five guineas. Breakfast was 
ready before we entered the room. -When the bird 
was produced, it flew to its master’s hand, and dis- 
tinctly pronounced, ‘ Good-morning, sir—breakfast 
—breakfast.’ It afterward hopped to the table, ex- 
amined every cup, and, while thus employed, it oc- 
casionally repeated, ‘ Breakfast—breakfast—bread 
and butter for Jack—tea, tea—bread for Jack— 
pretty Jack—pretty Jack.’ One thing we observed 
was this: it often said the same word or sentence 
twice over, perhaps in imitation of the person by 
whom it had been taught.”* 
* Notes to White’s Selborne, 8vo. edit., 1832. 
+ British Song Birds, p. 63. 
