80 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



It is amusing, however, to hear some of the 

 species of the parrot imitate other animals. 



Some years since, a parrot in Boston, who 

 had been taught to whistle as a person does 

 when he is calling a dog, was sitting in his 

 cage at the door of a shop, j^s he was whis- 

 tling in this manner, a large dog happened to 

 be passing the spot, and, imagining he heard 

 the call of his master, turned suddenly about, 

 and ran toward the parrot's cage. At this 

 moment, the bird exclaimed, in a very loud 

 tone of voice, " Get out, you brute !" The 

 astonished dog retreated, leaving the parrot 

 to enjoy the joke. 



According to an Abyssinian historian, there 

 was a most remarkable parrot in that country, 

 in 1621. He was about the size of a hen. He 

 had been taught to talk in Indian, Portuguese, 

 and Arabic, and could speak the king's name 

 almost as plainly as a man. Among other 

 strange things which he was in the habit 

 of doing, he would neigh like a horse, and 

 imitate the mewing of a cat so exactly that 

 nobody could tell the diiference, unless he 

 saw the parrot making the noise. He was 

 such a wise bird, that his master was sum- 

 moned to appear with him before the assembly 

 of judges, so that they might find out the cause 



