102 CUBAN PARROT. 



of the most talkative Parrots usually kept. It is found in St. Domingo, 

 Cuba, and even in Mexico. It is very mild and talkative, and imitates 

 the cries of cats, dogs, and other animals to perfection. It must be 

 kept very clean, and not let suffer from cold." 



As to the occurrence of this bird in Mexico, we consider that to be 

 a mistake; but the old writers had vague notions with respect to the 

 delimitations of that country, and frequently extended it to the Isthmus 

 of Panama, or even further towards the south, and confounded this 

 bird with others that bore a greater or less resemblance to it; hence 

 the wide habitat they assigned it; while really the White-headed Parrot 

 is restricted to the Island of Cuba. 



Herr A. Creutz, of Stettin (Russ passim), gives a short but some- 

 what high-flown account of this bird: — ff It is one of the most intelligent 

 birds in the world, as testified by its power of comprehension and 

 retentive memory; which enable it to speak with readiness, but not 

 to whistle. As a rule it comes to us more frequently than the Grey 

 Parrot, and costs less then half the price of the latter." 



, The price of the Cuban Parrot varies from twenty to thirty shillings 

 a piece for newly-imported birds; while Grey Parrots can now be 

 purchased for ten or fifteen shillings each; so that Herr Creutz's 

 figures cannot be accepted without reservation. In the time of Bechstein 

 a Cuban Parrot was worth from five to eight louis d'or. 



Dr. Zipperlen, as quoted by Russ, gives "a pretty picture" of one 

 of these birds. ff An Amazon of this species in the Zoological Gardens 

 of this city (Cincinnati), had the misfortune to lose the toe of one 

 of its feet; and as it used the other foot for perching, it was of 

 course unable to convey its food to its mouth in the usual manner; 

 so that when I gave it some small pieces of apple, the poor cripple 

 was in a sad state of perplexity; for holding a morsel in its beak, it 

 could not while trying to eat it, prevent its anxious companion from 

 sharing the feast. The latter, however, would hop down from its perch, 

 and approaching the disabled one, take the bit of apple from the 

 mouth of the" latter, and so hold it that both could nibble it at the 

 same time." 



Two Cuban Parrots were received by the London Zoological Society 

 in 1868, and another ten years later. 



Mr. K. Petermann, of Rostock, a well-known amateur, gives the 

 following account of a Parrot of this species, that has been in his 

 possession for twenty-two years without having had a single day's 

 illness: — "It chatters freely, and almost incessantly, but for the most 

 part indistinctly; and though it evinces much intelligence and great 

 powers of discrimination, as well as a good memory, it falls far short 



