102 OUR HOME PETS 



butyf jo ,h2vVe-not taken.' pains to have him 

 understand what they mean to you, he may not 

 use them as you do. For instance, if you teach 

 him the senseless "Polly wants a cracker," 

 without showing him, by offering a cracker, 

 what is meant, he may understand it to be a 

 mere greeting, like " Good -morning;" and I 

 believe many birds say this without in any way 

 connecting the idea of a cracker with it. 



No one who has lived for any length of time 

 in the house with a parrot has any doubts of 

 its sagacity or understanding. To say that 

 the bird does not mean anything by his re- 

 marks is seriously to underrate his intelligence. 

 Moreover, thousands of instances could be 

 collected, of parrots combining words in new 

 ways, and plainly showing that they under- 

 stand them. I heard of a case not long ago 

 of a parrot deeply attached to a young lady 

 who died away from home. Soon after the 

 event the bird began to call, " Where's Alice?" 

 and to ask the question of the family, and 

 every guest who came in. He had never done 

 it before, and it harrowed the grief-stricken 

 household to such an extent that the bird was 

 punished for it. He readily understood what 



