46 • GREY PARROT. 



built for shelter for them, but none of the others can ever be persuaded 

 to enter it: the gardener declares that the Grey Parrots foresee a 

 storm, and often take refuge in their glass-house before it comes.'" 



The foregoing extracts are from a paper read before the British 

 Association in 1868, by the late Mr. C. Buxton, and nearly all the 

 birds to which he there alludes, some fifty in number, fell a prey to 

 "those vile guns"; one gamekeeper "bagged-" no less than eleven, 

 and, as Mr. Buxton good-naturedly put it, "naturally thought he had 

 secured a wonderful prize." 



"The G-rey Parrot is a very good imitator of sounds and voices", 

 wrote Mr. Sydney 0. Buxton in The Animal World for 1878. "We 

 had for many years an old retriever named 'Tory' — now, alas! dead 

 of old age and merciful prussic acid. The Parrot could imitate our 

 tone and call of 'Tory, Tory!' and when he happened to be in a merry 

 mood (Parrots are fond of fun), and saw Tory half asleep, and com- 

 fortably curled up on the mat, he would call out 'Tory! To-ryP The 

 dog would rouse himself, anxious for a walk, look high and low, before 

 and behind, and seeing no one, would begin to lay himself down 

 again to rest, his temper slightly ruffled. Cries the Parrot, louder 

 than before, 'Tory! To-ry!'' Tory, now thoroughly roused, would 

 glance about, and at last espying the Parrot, with a look of intense 

 disgust and indignation, proceed to curl himself up again: the bird 

 meanwhile chuckling to himself on the success of his practical joke." 



Although the following anecdote from the same pen refers to a 

 different species, we cannot refrain from quoting it: — "I spoke of the 

 love of fun just now. We used to have a Grey Eed-breasted Cockatoo, 

 ' Minniehaha'' by name, who would deliberately lay herself down on 

 her back in the middle of the gravel-path, seize a pebble with one 

 foot, fling it into the air, and catch it in her mouth if she could as 

 it fell. All the while she would scream with pleasure and excitement, 

 and evidently thought she was having the j oiliest game possible." 



The Grey Parrots in their native country feed on fruit and grain, 

 principally maize, and many thousands of them die within a few weeks 

 or months of their importation here. The causes of this mortality are 

 various; fever contracted on ship-board, regret for the loss of their 

 liberty, or their companions, sheer fright in some cases, and disgust 

 at their surroundings in others, improper food in some instances, de- 

 privation of water in some, and too much of it in others: but the 

 chief cause of death is the inability of the young birds to feed them- 

 selves sufficiently to support life. On board-ship and at the dealers, 

 when a number of these birds are caged together, the old ones feed 

 the young ones, which require this attention for a good many months, 



