PARROTS. 195 



a long breath, say, " Better now ! " and begin to 

 laugh. 



' The first time I ever heard her speak, was one 

 day when I was talking to the maid at the bottom 

 of the stairs, and heard what I then considered to 

 be a child call out " Payne ! (the maid's name) I 

 am not well, I 'm not well ! " and on my saying, 

 " What is the matter with that child ? " she re- 

 plied, " It 's only the Parrot ; she always does so 

 when I leave her alone, to make me come back ; " 

 and so it proved ; for on her going into the room 

 the Parrot stopped, and then began laughing, 

 quite in a jeering way. 



' It is singular enough, that whenever she is 

 affronted in any way, she begins to cry, and when 

 pleased, to laugh. If any one happens to cough 

 or sneeze, she says, " What a bad cold !" One 

 day, when the children were playing with her, 

 tjke maid came into the room, and on their re- 

 peating to her several things which the Parrot 

 had said, Poll looked up, and said, quite plainly, 

 " No, I -didn't." Sometimes, when she is in- 

 clined to be mischievous, the maid threatens to 

 beat her, and she says, " No, you won't." She 

 calls the cat very plainly, saying, " Puss ! puss ! " 

 and then answers, mew : but the most amusing 

 part is, that whenever I want to make her call it, 

 and to that purpose say, " Puss ! puss ! " myself, 

 she always answers mew, till I begin mewing, and 

 then she begins calling puss as quick as possible. 

 She imitates every kind of noise, and barks so na- 

 turally, that I have known her to set all the dogs 

 on the parade at Hampton Court barking; and 

 the consternation I have seen her cause in a party 

 of cocks and hens, by her crowing and clucking, 



