CHAPTER XLIII. 



Parrot. 



I His, of course, is the Parrot of Parrots, of which I 

 have had so much to say elsewhere that a few 

 words will suffice to dispose of it in the present place. 

 That the Grey Parrot is phenomenally clever or ca- 

 pable I question very much; it varies a great deal, 

 and although some individuals are very accurate 

 mimics and evince a large capacity for the imitation not 

 only of human speech, but of other sounds, and even 

 of the actions of persons and animals, such birds are 

 above the average and not by any means to be taken 

 as typical members of their race, which includes a 

 large proportion of mere inconsequent chatterers and 

 screamers. 



Strange to say, I only became possessed of a Grey 

 Parrot a few years ago, when a friend brought me one 

 from the Gold Coast, the history of which I have re- 

 lated in full already, and must not touch upon here, 

 nor can I refer, even incidentally, to the other individuals 

 of the same species which I have since possessed or 



