84 STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



and, as if tlirougii mere mischief, pluck off the 

 apples, open them to the core, and disappointed 

 at the sight of the seeds, which are yet unfit 

 for their use, drop them, and seize others, till 

 they strip the whole tree." 



In a small family in the south part of Ports- 

 mouth, N. H., there was a parrot who had 

 found a home for many years, and had become 

 a pet of the family. A child was taken sick, 

 and was not seen by the parrot for some days. 

 The bird had been used to repeat her name, 

 and in the child's absence kept repeating the 

 name so often as to annoy the famih^ The 

 child died ; the repetition of the name was 

 ke])t up, until one of the family took the parrot 

 to the room where the corpse lay. The parrot 

 turned first one side of his head and then the 

 other, toward the corpse, apparently eyeing it, 

 and was then taken back. He never repeated 

 the name again. He was silent, and the next 

 day died. 



A trader in Brazil relates the following 

 story : " A certain Brazihan woman, that lived 

 in a village two miles distant from the island 

 on which we resided, had a parrot which was 

 the wonder of the place. It seemed able to 

 comprehend wliatever she said to it. As we 

 sometimes used to pass by that woman's house, 



