114 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



way." No wonder Mr. Buxton called his attempt "heart- 

 breaking " ! 



But funny things happened sometimes, as well as sad 

 ones. In one of the nest-boxes near the house a cat, 

 finding it empty, established herself and brought up her 

 kittens. "A pair of grey Parrots, who had not been in- 

 dustrious enough to lay eggs and have a family of their 

 own, were seized with the idea that these kittens were 

 their children ! They kept up a constant warfare with the 

 old cat, and whenever she left the box one of them used to 

 get in and sit with the kittens ! And they were constantly 

 in close attendance even when the mother cat was at home." 



Another funny bird was a large Parrot from the river 

 Amazon. He was a wonderful talker, and had a trick of 

 muttering to himself, " I have no wife, but I take care of 

 my mother." He used also to make his owner laugh by 

 walking up and down the window-sill imitating exactly 

 the voices of the various servants who tried to coax or 

 command him to come inside. 



When strangers approached the house they were often 

 astonished and perplexed to hear ^\'hat they thought must 

 be human beings holding a conversation in the tree-tops 

 overhead. It was the Amazon Parrot. And on one 

 occasion, this same bird "frightened a poor woman out of 

 her wits by suddenly plumping down on the top of her 

 head, as she was walking along the road." 



Of course every reader of this book will recall the fright 

 which poor Robinson Crusoe got, that hot afternoon when 

 he had fallen asleep under the tree. We can all imagine 

 how startling it must have been to the shipwrecked 

 man who believed himself to be alone on the island, to 

 be wakened by a voice calling him by name, and how 

 relieved he must have felt when he saw that it was his 



