STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 81 



of these remarkable talents. In that age of 

 the world, jou know, the belief in witchcraft 

 was very common in many parts of the world ; 

 and some of the Abj^ssinians thought that this 

 parrot's skill in imitating sounds so exactly, 

 was in some way to be traced to the agency 

 of evil spirits. The judges acquitted the bird, 

 however. 



Some time in the seventeenth century, there 

 was a parrot in Brazil, who seems to have been 

 even a greater mimic than the famous one who 

 lived in Abyssinia. You may be aware, that 

 the Dutch had possession of this country for 

 some years. This parrot flourished during that 

 time, and while Prince Maurice was at the head 

 of the Brazilian government. The bird was 

 celebrated for answering, like a rational crea- 

 ture, many of the common questions that were 

 put to him. The prince sent for him. When 

 he was introduced into the room where the 

 governor and several others were sitting, he 

 immediately exclaimed, in the Brazilian lan- 

 guage, " What a company of white men are 

 here !" " AYho is that man ?" they asked him, 

 pointing to the prince. The parrot answered, 

 " Some general or other." When the attend- 

 ants carried him up to the prince, he asked 

 him, through the medium of an interpreter — • 



