RATIONAL MIMICRY 287 



these birds are ever talkers, for only imitative birds 

 have the power of speech, though not by any means 

 all of such species ever develop it, however great 

 may be their opportunities when kept tame. 



Considering the difference in the vocal organs of 

 birds f and men, this imitation of our speech is 

 certainly not the least wonderful of their pecu- 

 liarities, especially as vocal mimicry under natural 

 conditions cannot be of the least service to them 

 as a rule, but is merely latent altogether, as seems 

 to be the case with Parrots in the wild state, or 

 is only used by way of amusement, with the excep- 

 tion of the Shrike's alleged treacherous custom. 

 An Indian Shrike which preys on frogs, by the 

 way, has been noticed to incorporate the screams of 

 the hapless batrachians in its song, so that it is 

 quite easy to see how the Great Grey Shrikes of 

 the north might easily begin imitating the cries of 

 distressed birds merely for amusement, and then 

 develop the habit for profit as well as pastime, as 

 described by Audubon and Dame Berners. 



This would make a close approach to rational 

 speech, and no one who has seen much of intelligent 

 Parrots can doubt that these birds have at least 

 some idea of the meaning of what they say. For 

 instance, I have never heard, or heard of, any 

 Parrot ask for any sort of refreshment unless it 

 saw food, or use any inappropriate word at such 

 times, though it might not know the exact expres- 

 sion. Such a bird, for instance, behaves much like 

 a person groping a way through a foreign language, 



