IMITATION AND MIMICRY. 213 



\vhile 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 sang any part of the song, it would 



Eause and take up the song where the person had 

 3ft 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.' I 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, ivho 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. 

 t British Song Birds, p. 63. 



