BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON. 99 



sex was never determined ; lout, as the males of this species are usually 

 very fluent talkers, the probability is that it was a female. 



There are many recorded instances of these birds laying eggs in 

 captivity, but none, with which we are acquainted, of their having 

 produced young. 



"Of all known animals, there are none so calculated to attract the 

 attention and admiration of man, as those which appear to approximate 

 to his own nature, and to partake of some of the attributes of hu- 

 manity. This is the case with the apes among the mammalia, and 

 the Parrots in the class of birds. Both exhibit some of the physical 

 peculiarities of man, and both present a very striking analogy with 

 each other. 



"The ape, from his external form, so like the human, his gestures 

 and gait, the rude resemblance of his face to that of man, from the 

 analogous arrangement of all his organs with ours, has been regarded 

 as a species of imperfect and wild man. Had he received the gift of 

 speech, like the Parrot, he would have passed for a genuine man in 

 the eyes of the multitude, who judge always rather from external 

 appearances than calm and reflective examination. The Parrot is in 

 the order of birds what the ape is in that of viviparous quadrupeds. 

 It would appear, on first view, to be still more closely connected with 

 us, than the latter, because the communion of speech is more intimate 

 than that of mere sign and gesture. Besides, speech is the expression 

 of thought, while gesture is nothing but the demonstration of physical 

 wants. The latter is altogether corporeal, the former appertains to the 

 mind. 



"We must not, however, consider the articulated voice of the Parrot 

 as a proof of the superiority of his intelligence over that of other 

 animals, or of its analogy with our own. It is certainly true, that the 

 Parrots exhibit the most perfect brain to be found among any of the 

 feathered race. The anterior lobes of its hemispheres are more pro- 

 longed than they are in rapacious birds, and the encephalon is wider 

 and more flatted than long; but as- to the intelligence of the bird, 

 compared with ours, it can only be considered that there is a point 

 of contact between them, as it were, but no resemblance. The Parrot's 

 imitation seems purely mechanical; it articulates words, indeed, but 

 this cannot be deemed a true language. In the same manner as an 

 air is taught to a Linnet with a bird- organ, so a word is taught to 

 a Parrot, which he repeats without knowing wherefore. He does not 

 comprehend its signification, and though he may repeat it on certain 

 occasions, because he has learned it, he sees no reason for doing so 

 like man. He utters, indifferently, a prayer or an insult, and those 



