532 THE GREY PARROT. 



There was a Parrot belonging to a friend of our family, a Portuguese gentleman who 

 had married an English wife and resided in England. This Parrot was a great favourite 

 in the house, and being accustomed equally to the company of its owner and the rest of 

 the household, was familiar with Portuguese as well as English words and phrases. The 

 bird evidently had the power of appreciating the distinction between the two languages, 

 for if it were addressed, its reply would always be in the language employed. 



The bird learned a Portuguese song about itself and its manifold perfections, the words 

 of which I cannot remember. But it would not sing this song if asked to do so in the 

 English language. Saluted in Portuguese, it would answer in the same language, but was 

 never known to confuse the two tongues together. Towards dinner-time it always became 

 very excited, and used to call to the servant whenever she was late, " Sarah, lay the cloth, 

 want my dinner!" which sentence it would repeat with great volubility, and at the top 

 of its voice. 



But as soon as its master's step was heard outside the house, its tone changed, for the 

 loud voice was disagreeable to its owner, who used to punish it for screaming by flip- 

 ping its beak. So Polly would get off the perch, very humbly sit on the bottom of the 

 cage, put its head to the floor, and instead of shouting for its dinner in the former impe- 

 rious tone, would whisper in the lowest of voices, " "Want my dinner ! Sarah, make haste, 

 want my dinner !" 



In the well-known autobiography of Lord Dundonald, there is an amusing anecdote of 

 a Parrot which had picked up some nautical phrases, and had learned to use them to good 

 effect. 



Some ladies were paying a visit to the vessel, and were hoisted on deck as usual by 

 means of a "whip," i.e. a rope passing through a block on the yardarm, and attached to 

 the chair on which the lady sits. Two or th ree had been safely brought on deck, and the 

 chair had just been hoisted out of the boat with its fair freight, when an unlucky Parrot 

 on board suddenly shouted out, "Let go !" The sailors who were hauling up the rope 

 instantly obeyed the supposed order of the boatswain, and away went the poor lady, chair 

 and all, into the sea. 



Its power of imitating all kinds of sounds is really astonishing. I have heard the 

 same Parrot imitate, or rather reproduce, in rapid succession the most dissimilar of sounds, 

 without the least effort and with the most astonishing truthfulness. He could whistle 

 lazily like a street idler, cry prawns and shrimps as well as any costermonger, creak like 

 an ungreased "sheave" in the pulley that is set in the blocks through which ropes run for 

 sundry nautical purposes, or keep up a quiet and gentle monologue about his own accom- 

 plishments with a simplicity of attitude that was most absurd. 



Even in the imitation of louder noises he was equally expert, and could sound the 

 danger whistle or blow off steam with astonishing accuracy. Until I came to understand 

 the bird, I used to wonder why some invisible person was always turning an imperceptible 

 capstan in my close vicinity, for the Parrot had also learned to imitate the grinding of the 

 capstan bars and the metallic clink of the catch as it falls rapidly upon the cogs. 



As for the ordinary accomplishments of Parrots, he possessed them in perfection, but 

 in my mind his most perfect performance was the imitation of a dog having his foot run 

 over by a cart-wheel. First there came the sudden half-frightened bark, as the beast found 

 itself in unexpected danger, and then the loud shriek of pain, followed by the series of 

 howls that is popularly termed "pen and ink." Lastly, the howls grew fainter, as the dog 

 was supposed to be limping away, and you really seemed to hear him turn the corner and 

 retreat into the distance. The memory of the bird must have been most tenacious, and 

 its powers of observation far beyond the common order; for he could not have been 

 witness to such canine accidents more than once. 



The food of this, a well as the green Parrot, consists chiefly of seeds of various kinds, 

 and in captivity may be varied to some extent. Hemp-seed, grain, canary-seed, and the 

 cones of fir-trees are very favourite articles of diet with this bird. Of the cones it is 

 especially fond, nibbling them to pieces when they are young and tender ; but when they 

 are old and ripe, breaking away the hard scales and scooping oi;.t the seeds with its very 

 useful tongue. Hawthorn berries are very good for the Parrot, as are several vegetables. 



