THE PARROT. 



THE parrot is at once wise and amusing a conjunction 

 seldom observed in the human race. Under the 

 general denomination of parrots are included several distinct 

 species, varying from the great macaw to the tiny paroquet, 

 having an exceeding wide range of distribution, being found 

 in South America, Africa, and India, and the group of 

 islands stretching down to Australia. Brilliant colouring is 

 the most striking characteristic of the family, although there 

 are some members, especially the parrot of Western Africa, 

 that are almost Quaker-like in the quiet grey of their 

 plumage. Next, perhaps, to their colour, their most notable 

 characteristic is the extreme harshness of their voices, 

 which are at once shriller, more discordant, and more 

 agonising to the human ear than the sound uttered by any 

 other of the animal creation, being approached only by 

 the feminine voice when raised in anger. It is the more 

 surprising that this should be so, since, as is evidenced by 

 his nice powers of imitation, the parrot is endowed with a 

 delicate ear, and there can be little doubt that the quality of 

 his own voice, and of the voices of his wife, his family, and 

 neighbours, must be a serious drawback to his happiness. 

 Many parrots are gregarious in their habits, and the noise 

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