A PARROT THAT THINKS. 



It is now ten years since the parrot 

 was purchased. He was only six months 

 old then, a large green bird with a lit- 

 tle yellow on his head and with red and 

 yellow markings on his tail and wings. 

 Gradually the yellow on the head has 

 spread back until it now extends be- 

 yond the neck, making Ki an unusually 

 handsome bird. 



Does he know it? Listen to him say 

 in proudest accents, 'Tretty, pretty 

 tail? Pretty, pretty wings!" following 

 the remark with a little laugh that 

 seems to say, ''You are not so pretty." 

 Then, too, strangers towards whom Ki 

 is not drawn knowing his weakness, 

 admire him and then his whole manner 

 changes towards them. Yes, it must 

 be admitted, his royal highness is con- 

 ceited. 



In the beginning Ki was not a preco- 

 cious bird. For six weeks his owner 

 sang one song to him, day after day, and 

 not a note came from the bird's throat. 

 Then, suddenly he proved himself not as 

 stupid as he at first seemed, and now 

 he has quite a list of songs at his com- 

 mand. ''Little Annie Rooney" was 

 picked up when that air was in vogue. 

 "Good-bye John, don't stay long" is 

 shrieked out when his, owner, who 

 boasts that name, leaves home to go to 

 business. Often before the house is 

 astir on Sunday morning', there comes 

 floating on the air the two lines: 



"I want to be somebody's darling, 



I'm tired of living alone." 



This is usually varied with "Hello!" 

 If some one dodges about his cage, 

 looking up at him from under it, as one 

 plays with a baby, "Peek-a-boo, I see 

 you," is called forth. When his owner 

 is singing with him, Ki often starts the 

 song "Everybody Has a Trouble of his 

 Own," but he seldom joins in with the 

 rest of it, preferring to hear it sung by 

 his master and showing his appreciation 

 by little sounds that are very like 

 chuckles of approval. Not so with 



"Rock-a-bye Baby," which he shouts 

 out in a way that would waken any 

 child. 



When he sings the long meter dox- 

 ology his head and tail droop and he as- 

 sumes quite a sanctimonious air. It 

 must be confessed that no one has ever 

 wept over his rendering of "Home 

 Sweet Home" as did audiences when 

 listening to Patti's singing. 



Ki is a hero worshiper, and his hero 

 is his owner, who has, in Ki's estima- 

 tion, committed only one blunder, yet 

 that a grevious one. His master mar- 

 ried. What was in still poorer taste, he 

 did not hesitate to show his affection 

 for that superfluous member of the fam- 

 ily right in front of the bird's cage. 

 After due deliberation, Ki decided to 

 vent his spite for this performance on 

 the bride, who, he felt, received alto- 

 gether too much attention. To this 

 day she has only one privilege with the 

 bird. She may feed him when no one 

 else is present to perform that serv- 

 ice. 



To tease her, Ki adopted an ugly 

 shriek, never before heard from his 

 throat and never used. save in her pres- 

 ence. Remembering that he objected 

 to water, she sprinkled some on him, 

 and that stopped the noise for a time. 

 When he tried his lungs again he had 

 the good sense to stand in the middle of 

 his cage under the large round piece 

 that holds the ring. Not a drop touched 

 him. Giving way to a feeling of exas- 

 peration she threw the water from the 

 side, and then as she wiped it from the 

 wall, she was far from calmed by listen- 

 ing to the parrot's "Ha, ha, ha! Awful 

 nice and good. Ki want a nice drink of 

 water." 



She has conquered him, however, for 

 since she boxed his ears through the 

 bars of the cage with a long handled 

 spoon, the very sight of the spoon quiets 

 him. As she holds it up before him he 

 softly remarks, "Ki will have some nice 

 mashed potatoes," and then subsides. 



