no THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



oy cynicism, malice, and a consciousness of superior wisdom. 

 We do not .say the assumption of superior wisdom, because no 

 one can doubt its existence ; and one of the problems which 

 the human mind has failed to solve is what there is that the 

 parrot doesn't know. Diogenes in his tub could hardly have 

 been wiser or more cynical than an elderly cockatoo ; and a 

 human being, when watching one of these birds, feels the 

 same consciousness of youth and inexperience that David 

 Copperfield always suffered from in the presence of the 

 irreproachable Littimer, and that the traveller in Egypt ex- 

 periences when gazing at the Sphinx. One cannot but feel 

 that the parrot has, in addition to his inborn stock of wis- 

 dom, acquired a deep knowledge of human nature, as the 

 result of years of careful study ; that he has weighed man in 

 the balance, and has come to the conclusion that he is al- 

 together wanting. There is, too, the unpleasant feeling that 

 the parrot has studied almost exclusively the worst side of 

 human nature. The leer of his half-closed eye, the mocking 

 laugh, the expression of malice in his tones, the hypocritical 

 demeanour of friendliness until a finger approaches near 

 enough to be seized all this testifies sadly to the fact that 

 the parrot has assimilated the worst qualities of man, while 

 there is no sign that the better ones have made the slightest 

 impression upon him. Of benevolence there is no trace, and, 

 although capable of affection towards his mistress, he treats 

 all other persons with equal nonchalance and contempt, 

 although he may be cajoled into temporary familiarity by 

 the offer of favourite food. The deep emphasis with which 

 he mutters " Poor Polly," shows the intense self-pity with 

 which he views his forced habitation among such trivial and 

 contemptible companions, and his regret at his' own moral 



