OBEY PABliOT. 45 



careful observation, will show that while the Parrot 'is certainly capable 

 of attaching ideas to certain sounds, it is incapable of generalization; 

 and that many of its most apposite answers, and remarks, are no 

 more than mere coincidences. 



A Parrot of this species belonging to a chemist in Bermondsey, 

 where it is kept in the shop, calls out "Wanted", as soon as a cus- 

 tomer comes in; and if the latter approaches the bird, and looks at it, 

 it will put its head on one side and inquire, in quite a confidential 

 tone of voice: "Well, who are you?" or "Well, what do you want?" 



Another that belongs to a medical man of our acquaintance has 

 learned, when a patient knocks, to say, "Open the door, and call the 

 doctor", but occasionally it reverses this order, and shouts out, "Open 

 the doctor, and call the door"; apparently quite unconscious of the 

 mistake it has made; thus showing that although it may attach, and 

 doubtless does, a certain meaning to the sentence it uses, the several 

 words of which it is composed convey no ideas to its mind; and that 

 this is really the case has been proved, in more than one instance, 

 by actual experiment. 



The majority of these birds that are sold in this country, are brought 

 from the Gold Coast, but they appear to be pretty generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the western and central parts of Africa. 



Bnffon relates that in his time a pair of these birds bred for several 

 years consecutively in Paris, and reared their young; this statement, 

 however, has been questioned by some more recent writers, but is 

 nevertheless probably quite correct, for a pair belonging to the late 

 Mr. Charles Buxton, M.P., made a nest in a hollow branch, and 

 ''''brought up two young Grey Parrots, which were afflicted with most 

 awful tempers. The party of four fly about almost always together, 

 and are a great ornament to the place" (Northrepps Hall). 



The same gentleman continues: "A cat made her lodgings in one 

 of the nest-boxes, and brought up her kittens in it, and two of the 

 Grey Parrots, who had not been industrious 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." 



"I had at one time", continues the same writer, "a flock of eleven 

 Grey Parrots at my house in Surrey, but ten of them having got 

 shot, the survivor associated himself with some Cockatoos, and for the 

 last few years has invariably flown about in their company." 



"The Grey Parrots have the sense to get into a house that was 



