MEALY AMAZON. 117 



Parrot's point of view, we shall certainly arrive at another and a truer 

 interpretation. The head combing is a delicate attention, equivalent to 

 the human osculatory salute, which possibly a Parrot may consider 

 ridiculous enough; while the feeding, to our notions repulsive, is the 

 greatest mark of affection one bird can bestow upon another. 



This reminds us of a case that recently came under our notice: a 

 lady correspondent wrote complaining of her Parrot; we forget the 

 species, but let us say it was a Mealy Amazon, a most charming bird, 

 and hitherto the delight of her life, so tame, so affectionate, and so 

 clever! but alas! it had within the last few weeks acquired the most 

 horribly disgusting habit ! (there were three or four notes of exclamation 

 in the original) every time she went near the cage the wretched bird 

 made itself sick, and brought up great mouthfuls of half-digested food. 

 What could be the cause of, and what could be done to cure it of, 

 such an abominable habit? 



In vain we assured the lady that the poor bird was not only un- 

 conscious of offence, but was actually offering to its ungrateful mistress 

 the very strongest proof of its affection for her, that it was capable of 

 giving. She would not listen to our explanation, and either sold or 

 gave away the bird, which she declared acted as she had described 

 on purpose to annoy her; and to this day she believes that her inter- 

 pretation of the poor affectionate Parrot's conduct is the correct one. 



In concluding his account of the Mealy Amazon, Dr. Karl Russ says : 

 "Its mode of life resembles on the whole that of the other Amazons. 

 It is much hunted, is easily tamed and trained, and learns to speak 

 well; nevertheless, on account of its screaming, it is not so highly 

 esteemed as its fellows previously described/' 



We may here remark that it is rather on account of the injury done 

 to the various crops that this bird is persecuted by the inhabitants, 

 than for the sake of making a few reals by selling it into captivity. 



The personal appearance of this large Parrot is not in its favour, 

 for it looks as if it had been rooting in a bag of flour, and wanted 

 brushing; and we never see a Mealy Amazon without an inclination 

 to give it a good shaking; which, by the bye, would not be a very 

 judicious thing to do, considering the formidable bill of the creature, 

 and the use to which it would doubtless put it in such a contingency. 



Putting, however, the be-powdered condition of the bird out of the 

 question, the Mealy Amazon is not so undesirable an acquisition as 

 might from what we have said about it be considered. It screams, 

 no doubt, and screams loudly too, but it is docile, and learns to talk 

 fairly well; then its mere size is a recommendation, and its great 

 hardiness is another. There is no doubt it could be readily acclimatised 



