THE TALKING TRIBES 115 



The magpie is another talker, and an ex- 

 ceedingly busy and entertaining bird besides 

 that is, if one has plenty of room for the 

 exercise of his abilities; for he develops best 

 outside a cage, and is without doubt the most 

 mischievous bird we have. 



The common crow will learn to talk, and an- 

 other of his family, the raven, is really a fine 

 linguist, learning very rapidly, and rarely for- 

 getting any sentence he has once mastered. 

 He has also, like the parrot, the advantage of 

 long life to repay one for the trouble of teach- 

 ing him. But he is another too active to 

 keep in a cage, and too large and full of mis- 

 chief to be an altogether agreeable house- 

 mate. 



The mino, a native of India, frequently to be 

 found in our bird stores, is another talker and 

 an interesting fellow, being intelligent as well 

 as affectionate. He speaks readily, but the 

 disadvantage with him as a cage bird is that 

 his native calls seem to be all shrieks, and 

 he is so fond of uttering them at the top 

 of his voice that few persons can endure him 

 in a house ; and hung outside, he becomes 

 a nuisance to a neighborhood. It is proba- 



