THE GRAY PARROT. 413 



try which abound most in rich alluvial soils on which grow the cockle- 

 burrs so dear to the Parrot and so hated by the farmer. The general 

 color of this bird is green, washed with blue and diversified with other 

 tints. The total length of this species is about twenty-one inches. 



The true Parrots constitute a group which are easily recognized by 

 their short squared tails, 

 the absence of any crest 

 upou the head, and the 

 toothed edges of the upper 

 mandible. 



The Gray Parrot has 

 long been celebrated for 

 its wonderful powers of 

 imitation and its excellent 

 memory. 



It is a native of Western 

 Africa, and is one of the 

 commonest inhabitants of 

 our aviaries, being brought 

 over in great numbers by 

 sailors, and always finding 

 a ready sale as soon as the 

 vessel arrives in port. 



Its power of imitating all 

 kinds of sounds is really 

 astonishing. I have heard 

 a parrot imitate, or rather ^he Carolina Parrot [Psiltaaus Carolinensis) . 



reproduce, in rapid succession the most dissimilar of sounds, without 

 the least effort and with the most astonishing truthfulness. He could 

 whistle lazily like a street-idler, cry prawns and shrimps as well as any 

 costermonger, creak like an ungreased "sheave" in the pulley that is 

 set in the blocks through which ropes run for sundry nautical purposes, 

 or keep up a quiet and gentle monologue about his own accomplish- 

 ments with a simplicity of attitude that was most absurd. 



Even in the imitation of louder noises he was equally expert, and 

 could sound the danger-whistle or blow ofi* steam with astonishing ac- 

 curacy. Until I came to understand the bird, I used to wonder why 

 some invisible person was always turning an imperceptible capstan in 

 my close vicinity, for the Parrot had also learned to imitate the grind- 

 ing of the capstan-bars and the metallic clink of the catch as it falls 

 rapidly upon the cogs. 



As for the ordinary accomplishments of Parrots, he possessed them 

 in perfection, but in my mind his most perfect performance was the im- 

 itation of a dog having his foot run over by a cart-wheel. First there 



35* 



