THE TALKING TRIKES Q7 



love and jealousy, as well as hate and rage. 

 They often die from strong emotion, some 

 fright or fury, grief caused by rough words or 

 scolding of a friend, or of longing for an 

 absent loved one. 



A bird left to the care and society of ser- 

 vants, or one considered merely as an orna- 

 ment, lives a joyless and wretched life, almost 

 as would a child under similar treatment. It 

 is necessary to his well-being that he shall love 

 some one. Without this his talents develop 

 in every unpleasing way; he learns not to talk, 

 but to scream, to bark like a dog, to whistle 

 like the boys in the street, to imitate the city 

 cries, or the coughing of an old man. In a 

 word, he becomes a nuisance in a house ; and 

 he is not to be blamed for it. 



It is unfortunate that we cannot begin the 

 training of our parrot ; as it is, he has learned 

 many things before he comes to us, and the 

 first lesson is usually the unlearning of the 

 teaching he has had. Many a bird has a ruined 

 temper, with habits of screaming and using bad 

 language, firmly fixed before he goes into a 

 family. These habits it is difficult and some- 

 times impossible to break up. 



7 



