could be ; they are also the species least mimicry of the human voice. Parrots 



afraid of enemies. In Brazil, it is said, and some other birds, on the contrary, 



they may often be seen moving about in like the mocking bird, being endowed 



pairs in the evening with as little attempt with considerable flexibility of voice, imi- 



at concealment as storks in Germany. tate either songs or spoken words with 



Even the New Zealand owl-parrot still great distinctness. In the parrot the 



retains many traces of his original green- power of attention is also very considera- 



ness, mixed with the brown and dingy ble, for the bird will often repeat to itself 



yellow of his nocturnal and burrowing the lesson it has decided to learn. But 



nature. most of us forget that at best the parrot 



I now turn to the parrot's power of knows only the general application of a 

 mimicry in human language. This power sentence, not the separate meanings of its 

 is only an incidental result of the general component words. It knows, for exam- 

 intelligence of parrots, combined with the pie, that 'Tolly wants a lump of sugar" 

 other peculiarities of their social life and is a phrase often followed by a gift of 

 forestine character. Dominant wood- food; But to believe it can understand 

 land animals, like monkeys and parrots, an exclamation like "What a homely lot 

 at least if vegetarian in their habits, are of parrots !" is to credit the bird with 

 almost always gregarious, noisy, mis- genuine comprehension. A careful con- 

 chievous, a'nd imitative. And the imita- sideration of the evidence has convinced 

 tion results directly from a somewhat almost all scientific men that, at the most, 

 high order of intelligence. The power a parrot knows the meaning of a sentence 

 of intellect, in all except the very highest in the same way as a dog understands the 

 phases, is merely the ability to accurately meaning of "Rats" or a horse knows the 

 imitate another. Monkeys imitate action significance of "Get up." 

 to a great extent, but their voices are Lawrence Irwell. 

 hardly flexible enough for very much 



How can our fancies help but go 



Out from this realm of mist and rain, 

 Out from this realm of sleet and snow, 



When the first Southern violets blow? 



-Thomas Bailey Aldrich, "Spring in New England.' 



107 



