18(5 CANARIES AND CAGE-BIRDS. 



reason above given, a child's pet talker generally has a sweet voice, and can be 

 readily understood. 



MEXICAN DOUBLE YELLOW-HEAD PARROT. 



This bird is classed next to the Gray in intelligence and capability, and is pre- 

 ferred by many on account of his great tameness, and the ease with which he will 

 learn to sing as well as talk. 



The Mexican is the operatic star of the Parrot family ; his natural voice being 

 sweet, clear, and ringing. Many ladies, who own the best Parrot in the world, relate 

 marvellous stories of the repertoire which her pet Mexican is capable of rendering ; 

 and the list includes in some cases a range of airs, from the opera " Where was 

 Moses when the light went out?" to a Boston sabbath-school hymn. The Mexican 

 is seemingly intelligent enough to discern the different styles in which the music 

 should be rendered, giving a faithful representation of either the true operatic artist, 

 or the religiously inclined old lady. 



The Mexican Parrots, unlike the other varieties, excepting the Cuban, are rarely 

 ever trapped, but are taken from the nests when scarcely fledged : thus any natural 

 wildness is unknown to them in this condition, and they are quite ready and willing 

 to go to the kindergarten. In the spring of the year the regular bird-buyers for 

 the New- York bird-houses visit Mexico, when the natives collect the Parrots in 

 large numbers from the nests, and display .them for sale in the market-places. The 

 birds thus taken in a season amount to thousands, and these wholesale seizures 

 threaten a scarcity in the future. The Mexican Parrot, after receiving his first 

 plumage, is of a beautiful clear green color throughout the body, with a pale orange 

 forehead and scarlet-tipped wings ; his feet are very strong, and white in color ; the 

 beak is white ; and the tongue is also of the same color, a mark which distinguishes 

 him from a closely allied specimen bred from a full-blooded Mexican and the Half 

 Yellow-head. The Mexican is somewhat larger in size than the African Gray, and 

 measures about fifteen inches in length. As the bird grows older the orange color 

 of the forehead deepens, and extends over the head : and the very old birds are seen 

 with the entire neck and head clear yellow, with a plentiful sprinkling of yellow 

 feathers through the green on the back, and a gradual spreading of the scarlet on 

 the wing-tips. 



The young Mexican birds, when brought to the northern parts of the United 

 States, become easily acclimated, and for this reason, in the estimation of Parrot- 

 lovers, have the advantage over the Grays. It is a fact, that the baby Mexican 

 Parrots, when first brought to the market, usually command better figures than the 

 young Grays ; although, when fully trained, the Gray Parrots are given the preference. 



The Mexican Parrot, after going through a course of training, is certainly a 

 most amusing fellow, and mingles his odd and witty sayings and his comic songs in 

 a most ludicrous manner. For the piously inclined I would recommend them ; 

 because, unlike their wicked gray brethren, they are not so apt to shock one with 

 careless profanity. The natural sweet voice of the Mexican Parrot does not seem 

 fitted to utter the coarse oaths, which, in order to be given expression and meaning, 

 should be said as gruffly as possible. He is eminently fitted as a nurse for the 



