BIRDS. 199 



pcrly attended to ; and indeed, it must be owned, that it emplojs 

 but too great a part of some people's attention. 



The e.\treme sagacity and docility of the bird may i)lead as 

 the best excuse for those who spend whole hours in teaching 

 their parrots to speak ; and, indeed, the bird, on those occasions, 

 seems the wisest animal of the two. It at iirst obstinately re- 

 sists all instruction ; but seems to be won by perseverance, 

 makes a few attempts to imitate the first sounds, and when it 

 has got one word distinct, all the succeeding come with greater 

 facility. The bird generally learns most in those families where 

 the master or mistress have the least to do ; and becomes more 

 expert, in proportion as its instructors are idly assiduous. In 

 going through the towns of France some time since I could not 

 help observing how much plainer their parrots spoke than ours, 

 and how very distinctly I understood their parrots speak French, 

 when I could not understand our own, though they spoke my 

 native language. I was at first for ascribing it to the different 

 qualities of the two languages, and was for entering into an ela- 

 borate discussion on the vowels and consonants ; but a friend 

 that was with me solved the difficulty at once, by assuring me 

 that the F'rench women scarcely did any thing else the whole 

 day than sit and instruct their feathered pupils ; and that the 

 birds were thus distinct in their lessons in consequence of con- 

 tinual schooling. 



The parrots of France are certainly very expert, but nothing 

 to those of the Brazils, where the education of a parrot is con- 

 sidered as a very serious affair. The history of Prince Mau- 

 rice's parrot, given us by Mr Locke, is too well known to be 

 repeated here ; but Clusius assures us that the parrots of that 

 country are the most sensible and cunning of all animals not en- 

 dued with reason. The great parrot, called the aicurous, the 

 head of which is adorned with yellow, red, and violet, the body 

 green, the ends of the wings red, the feathers of the tail long 

 and yellow ; this bird, he asserts, which is seldom brought into 

 Europe, is a prodigy of understanding. " A certain Brazilian 

 woman, that lived in a village two miles distant from the island 

 Oil which we resided, had a parrot of this kind which was the 

 wonder of the place. It seemed endued with such understand- 

 ing as to discern and comprehend whatever she said to it. A» 

 we sometimes used to pass by that woman's house, she used to 



