t 28 A HISTORY OF 



lie farther down in the throat, being performed by the great motion 

 which the os hyoides has in these birds above others. 



The parrot, though common enough in Europe, will not, however, 

 breed here. The climate is too cold for its warm constitution, and 

 though it bears our winter when arrived at maturity, yet it always 

 seems sensible of its rigour, and loses both its spirit and appetite du 

 ring the colder parts of the season. It then becomes torpid and in- 

 active, and seems quite changed from that bustling loquacious animal 

 which it appeared in its native forest, where it is almost ever upon 

 the wing. Notwithstanding, the parrot lives even with us a consider- 

 able time, if it be properly attended to ; and indeed it must be own- 

 ed that it employs but too great a part of some people's attention. 



The extreme sagacity and docility of the bird may plead as the best 

 excuse for those who spend whole hours in teaching their parrots to 

 speak, and indeed the bird on those occasions seems the wisest ani- 

 mal of the two. It at first obstinately resists all instruction, but seems 

 to be won by perseverance, makes a few attempts to imitate the first 

 sounds, and when it has got one word distinct, all the succeeding 

 come with greater facility. The bird generally learns most in those 

 families where the master or mistress have the least to do ; and be- 

 comes more expert, in proportion as its instructors are idly assiduous. 

 In going through the towns of France some time since, I could not 

 help observing how much plainer the.r parrots spoke than ours, and 

 how very distinctly I understood their parrots speak French, when I 

 could not understand our own, though they spoke my native language. 

 I was at first for ascribing it to the different qualities of the two lan- 

 guages, and was for entering into an elaborate discussion on the vowels 

 and consonants ; but a friend that was with me solved the difficulty 

 at once, by assuring me that the French women scarce did any thing 

 else the whole day than sit and instruct their feathered pupils ; and 

 that the birds were thus distinct in their lessons in consequence of 

 continual schooling. 



The parrots of France are certainly very expert, but nothing to 

 those of the Brazils, where the education of a parrot is considered as 

 a very serious affair. The history of Prince Maurice's parrot, given 

 us by Mr. Locke, is too well known to be repeated here ; but Clusius 

 assures us that the parrots of that country are the most sensible and 

 cunning of all animals not endued with reason. The great parrot, 

 called the aicurous, the head of which is adorned with yellow, red, 

 and violet, the body green, the end of the wings red, the feathers of 

 the tail long and yellow ; this bird, he asserts, which is seldom brought 

 into Europe, is a prodigy of understanding. " A certain Brazilian 

 woman that lived in a village two miles distant from the island on 

 which we resided, had a parrot of this kind which was the wonder of 

 the place. It seemed endued with such understanding as to discern 

 and comprehend whatever she said to it. As we sometimes used to 

 pass by that woman's house, she used to call upon us to stop, promis- 

 ing, if we gave her a comb, or a looking-glass, that she would make 

 her parrot sing and dance to entertain us. If we agreed to her re- 

 quest, as soon as she had pronounced some words to the bird, It be- 

 gan not only to leap and skip on the perch on which it stood, but also 

 lo talk and to whistle, and imitate the shoutings and exclamations of 



