Parrots. 229 



should be moveable, so as to be taken out and well 

 washed and scalded every week ; and if the feet are 

 bad, they may be covered with flannel for a time. 

 Great cleanliness is necessary, and the cage must have 

 plenty of sand or gravel in it. Cages of lacquered brass 

 wire or of tinned wire, bell-shaped, square, and domed, 

 are generally used for Parrots : unlacquered brass wire 

 would be fatal to them, as indeed to all birds, who 

 would rub their beaks along the wires when verdigris 

 has accumulated on them. Cockatoos and Macaws 

 are often kept chained to a perch. All should be sup- 

 plied with water for bathing : though some of the 

 species rarely enter a bath, others are very fond of 

 washing, and must be indulged with a bath on sunny 

 days. Some of them drink a good deal of water, others 

 rarely touch it. 



The Parrot tribe have, almost universally, shrill 

 harsh voices, and many of them scream in a most dis- 

 agreeable fashion. They are generally very sagacious 

 birds, but sometimes take strange likings and dislik- 

 ings to people, and are apt to be jealous of children ; 

 and as they bite pretty sharply, they are not always 

 safe companions in a nursery. Those that talk appear 

 to have a great sense of fun, and will bring in the 

 sentences they have learnt to utter in the most appro- 

 priate circumstances. Probably they observe the effect 

 of certain phrases when used by human beings, and 

 their powers of memory being very great, remember 



