PAREOTS. 197 



limited powers of his prize are discovered. Enraged at having 

 paid so extravagant a price for so poor a talker the man one 

 day exclaimed in the presence of the bird : " What a fool I was 

 to buy such a stupid thing !'' Again the parrot's single sen- 

 tence comes in quite appropriate as he repeats, " There can be 

 no doubt of that !" 



A bird show was held at a museum in New York several 

 years since, to which a parrot was sent that had been taught 

 to repeat the Lord's^ Prayer. This was advertised extensively, 

 and hundreds of persons went to hear the wonder, but to their 

 disappointment and the vexation of the owner, Poll would not 

 utter a word during the exhibition, although fully able to do 

 what had been expected. After the show, the parrot was taken 

 home, and upon reaching its place it exclaimed — probably an 

 accustomed phrase — " I suppose I can talk now," and became 

 as voluble as ever. 



The bird's silence was not remarkable, as song-birds will sel- 

 dom sing freely for some time after being taken to a new place ; 

 the speech on going home certainly seemed to indicate intelli- 

 gence. A gentleman had taught his parrot to say, "Get 

 your gun, John," which was well remembered one night 

 by the bird, for burglars entered the house, and Poll, hearing a 

 noise, screamed out at the top of her voice, '' Get your gun, 

 John," awakening her owner, and at the same time putting the 

 robbers to flight. 



An Englishman describing another wonderful parrot hanging 

 in a cage from the window of a house which he often passed, 

 said : " It cries ^ Stop thief so naturally that every time I 

 hear it I always stop." 



It is very essential that the trainer should be on good 

 terms with the parrot, in order to secure success, as they will 

 not readily learn for one for whom they entertain any dislike. 

 Under favorable circumstances not only do they copy the 

 word:3 of their trainer but even his peculiarities of voice. Buf- 

 fon mentions a gray parrot which was taught to speak by a 

 sailor during a voyage from Guinea, and acquired so exactly his 

 harsh voice and cough as to be frequently mistaken for him. 

 It was afterward instructed by a young man, and although it 

 then heard no voice but that of its new teacher, the former les- 

 sons were never forgotten, and it often amused the bystanders 

 by suddenly passing from a soft and agreeable voice to its old 

 hoarse sea tone. 



Not only do parrots learn to imitate the human voice but 

 also that of animals. This is more difficult to teach owing to the 

 difficulty of securing the sounds for the bird to copy. A bird 



