THE PARROTS. 145 
Her laugh is quite extraordinary, and it is impossi- 
ble to help joining in it oneself, more especially when 
in the midst of it she cries out, ‘Don’t make me 
laugh so. I shall die, I shall die;’ and then con- 
tinues laughing more violently than before. Her 
crying and sobbing are curious; and if you say, 
‘Poor Poll! what is the matter?’ she says, ‘So bad! 
so bad! got a bad cold!’ and after crying for some 
time will gradually cease, and making a noise like 
drawing a long breath, say, ‘ Better now!’ and begin 
to laugh. 
“The first time I ever heard her speak, was one 
day when I was talking to the maid at the bottom 
of the stairs, and heard what I then considered to 
be a child call out, ‘ Payne! (the maid’s name) I am 
not well! I’m not well!’ and on my saying, ‘What 
is the matter with that child?’ she replied, ‘It is 
only the Parrot; she always does so when I leave 
her alone, to make me come back;’ and s0 it proved ; 
for on her going into the room the Parrot stopped, 
and then began laughing, quite in a jeering way. 
“Ttis singular enough, that whenever she is affronted 
in any way, she begins to ery, and when pleased, to 
laugh. If any one happens to cough or sneeze, she 
says, ‘What a bad cold!’ One day when the chil- 
dren were playing with her, the maid came into the 
room, and on repeating to her several things which 
the Parrot had said, Poll looked up, and said quite 
plainly, ‘No I didn’t.’ Sometimes, when she is in- 
clined to be mischievous, the maid threatens to beat 
her, and she says, ‘No you won't.’ She calls the 
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