410 PARROTS 



with much noise and animation — and this is the signal for their 

 visit to the water, which is often at a great distance, since no 

 other than the purest water will please them. They are then 

 seen huddling or rolling over each other, pell mell, on the 

 banks of the water, frolicking together, dipping their heads and 

 wings into the water in such a manner as to scatter it over all 

 their plumage, and exhibiting a most entertaining spectacle to 

 the observer. This ceremony being over, they revisit the trees 

 on which they previously assembled, where they sit in order to 

 adjust and clean their feathers ; and this being finished, they 

 fly off in pairs, each pair seeking its particular retreat in the 

 wood, where they wait till morning." 



If the monkeys are distinguished by a strong affection for 

 their young, the parrots may well be cited as models of con- 

 nubial love, for when once a pair has been united, its attach- 

 ment remains unaltered unto death. 



Far more than the turtle-dove, the little passerine parrot 

 {Psittacus jpasserinus) of Brazil, or the Psittacus 'pullarius, 

 or love-parrot of Guinea, deserved to be celebrated by poets 

 as the emblem of conjugal affection. Never seen but in each 

 other's company, each delights to imitate the actions of the 

 other, feeding, sleeping, bathing together ; and when one dies, 

 the other soon follows its partner. A gentleman who had lost 

 one of a pair of these inseparables, attempted to preserve the 

 other by hanging up a looking-glass in its cage. At first the 

 joy of the poor bird was boundless, as he fancied his mate 

 restored to his caresses; but soon perceiving the deception, 

 he pined away and died. 



Another point of resemblance between the parrots and 

 monkeys is their talent for mimicry; but while the latter, 

 favoured by the similarity of their organisation to that of man, 

 strive to copy his gestures and actions, the former endeavour to 

 imitate his voice and to repeat his words, an attempt facilitated 

 by the extreme mobility of their tongue and upper mandible, 

 no less than by the peculiar construction of their larynx or 

 windpipe. 



These imitative instincts appear the more remarkable when 

 we consider that both the monkeys and the parrots have no 

 pursuits that necessarily bring them into closer connection with 

 man. They are comparatively useless to him, live almost con- 



t. 



