BMG-NECKED OB BENGAL PABBAEEET. 59 



but it takes a great deal of teaching; so much so that many people tire 

 of the task before it is well begun, and dismiss the poor bird as stupid, 

 when they themselves are simply lazy — "too much trouble", etc. 



In order that one of these birds shall become a talker, it is necessary 

 to take it in hand when very young, and, as assiduously as possible, 

 repeat to it the word or words it is desired to teach it: constant 

 repetitions impress the -sound upon the Parrakeet' s memory, and after 

 a while the patient tutor will be rewarded for his pains, by hearing 

 his little pupil repeating to itself in a low, and barely audible key, 

 the syllables that have been so often spoken in its hearing, or rather 

 directly to it; by and bye, it gains more confidence, and pronounces 

 the words more loudly and more distinctly; but, only when it has 

 thoroughly mastered its lesson, should a second be attempted, and 

 when that has been accomplished, a third, and so on. 



Well taught, the Ring-necked becomes a good talker; but left to 

 itself, like many an idle boy and girl, it learns nothing, and is content 

 to pass through life without any accomplishments whatever. 



It seems almost a libel on the sex, but the females of this species 

 of Parrakeet are almost incapable of learning to speak; on the other 

 hand, they have any amount of capacity for screaming and shrieking 

 at the very top of their by no means dulcet voices. 



The Eing-necked Parrakeet is a long lived bird, enduring for fifteen 

 or twenty years in the house, and instances are on record where a 

 much more advanced age has been obtained. 



"This most delightful of all these long tails", writes Dr. Russ, con- 

 cerning the subject of the present notice, "is also that which was first 

 known in Europe; it is mentioned by Aristotle, and described by Pliny. 

 Many specimens of these Parrots were brought to Pome from Africa 

 under Nero : it is also the only member of the family that is common 

 to Asia and Africa: its habitat extends from Senegambia to Malacca; 

 and in the East Indies it is the commonest of birds. 



"It nests from January to March in the hollow boughs of trees, or 

 in crevices in houses and old Pagodas, where it lays from three to 

 four eggs. 



"The price of a pair is about twenty-four or thirty shillings, but a 

 talking Ring-necked is worth ninety shillings and upwards. Herr 

 Gudera in Leipsig has one that repeats a goodly catalogue of German 

 and French expressions. 



"An old pair in my bird-room lived in perfect amity with other 

 Parrots, and small birds, until I made the acquisition of three young 

 females, when they immediately attacked the other birds, and maliciously 

 bit them. So it behoves one to be cautious. 



