86 THE COMMON ASH-COLORED PARROT. 



who wished to make a public exhibition of her ; but this, out of 

 tenderness to the favorite, he constantly refused. The bird was dis 

 sected by Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Brookes ; and the muscles of the 

 Larynx, which regulate the voice, were found, from the effect oi 

 practice, to be uncommonly strong." 



The sister of M. de Buffon had a Parrot of this species which would 

 frequently talk to himself, and seemed to fancy that some one 

 addressed him. He often asked for his paw, and answered by 

 holding it up. Though he liked to hear the voice of children, 

 he appeared to have an antipathy to i.nem ; he pursued them, and 

 bit them till he drew blood. He had also his objects of attachment; 

 and though his choice was not very nice it was constant. He was 

 excessively fond of the cook -maid ; followed her every where, sought 

 for, and seldom missed finding her. If she had been some time ou* 

 of his sight, the bird climbed with his bill and claws to her shouldera 

 and lavished on her his caresses. His fondness had all the marks of 

 close and warm friendship. The girl happened to have a sore finger, 

 which was tedious in healing, and so painful as to make her scream. 

 Whilst she uttered her moans, the Parrot never left her chamber. 

 The first thing he did every day was to pay her a visit ; and this 

 tender condolence lasted the whole time of the cure, when he again 

 returned to his former calm and settled attachment. Yet this strong 

 predilection for the girl seems to have been more directed to her 

 office in the kitchen, than to her person ; for, when another cook- 

 maid succeeded her, the Parrot showed the same degree of fondness 

 to the new-comer, the very first day. 



Parrots not only imitate discourse, but also mimic gestures and 

 actions. Scaliger saw one that performed the dance of the Savoyards 

 at the same time that it repeated their song. The one last mentioned, 

 was fond of hearing a person sing ; and when he saw him dance, he 

 also tried to caper, but with the worst grace imaginable, holding in 

 his toes, and tumbling back in a most clumsy manner. 



The society which the Parrot forms with man is, from its use of 

 language, much more intimate and pleasing, than what the monkey 

 can claim from its antic imitation of our gestures and actions. It 

 highly diverts and amuses us; and in solitude it is company: the 

 bird takes part in conversation, it laughs, it breathes tender expres- 

 sions, or mimics grave discourse ; and its words, uttered indiscrimi 

 nately, please by their incongruity, and sometimes excite surprise by 

 their aptness. Willughby tells us of a Parrot, which, when a person 

 said to it, " Laugh, Poll, laugh," laughed accordingly, and the instant 

 after screamed out, " What a fool to make me laugh !" Another, 

 which had grown old with its master, shared with him the infirmities 

 of age. Being accustomed to hear scarcely any thing but the words, 

 " I am sick;" when a person asked it, "How d'ye do, Poll? how 

 d'ye do?" " I am sick," it replied in a doleful tone, stretching itself 

 along, " I am sick." 



Dr. Goldsmith says, that a Parrot belonging to King Henry the 

 Seventh, having been kept in a room next the Thames, in his palace 

 at Westminster had learned to repeat many sentences from the boat 



