'38 
NATURE NOTES. 
had some kind of thought that the pulling of the bell handle meant the opening 
of the door ; and if it thought, then to a certain extent it reasoned, for thought, 
in a sense, is reason. C. E. C. 
An Eloquent Parrot. — One of my grandsons has lately brought me a fine 
grey African parrot, to keep for him when he is at school. The bird is one of the 
most amusing I ever met with. His conversational powers are remarkable, and 
it is, I confess, to me astonishing how well his remarks fit in with the things 
said in his hearing. The morning after he arrived my black cat came in, and 
Polly at once began to mew ; puss looked around for a cat, and at last saw the 
bird, looked scared at a fresh “ mew,” and tlew under my chair ; a third “ mew ” 
sent her off through the doorway, when Polly ejaculated very clearly, “ Poor old 
cat ” twice, and began to whistle. She holds conversations with herself, and laughs 
at the right time if any one is relating a funny tale, but that I think is because she 
notices people smile. She mocks the hens, barks at the fox terrier, calls the 
servants by their names, and when the man brings the milk screams out “ Milk 
O ! ” This is singular, for the man never carries cans or calls out milk as they do 
in towns, so how is it that Polly connects in her mind, as she evidently does, the 
jug he brings to the house morning and evening, with the milk vendors and their 
cry in a town ? Polly prefers gentlemen to ladies, and will never allow me to 
“scratch her poll.” Her great delight is to dance for the children’s amuse- 
ment on the top of her cage. They sing to her and she whistles. I have never 
seen an elephant dance, but it strikes me that Polly’s ungraceful movements 
might match any Jumbo’s. If she is laughed at she stops, and refuses to dance 
again that day’. 
Ztss. Hele.n Watney. 
The Cuckoo Again. — A short time ago in a London paper a correspondent 
stated that he saw in a country garden a young cuckoo being fed by a robin and 
a wren. “The robin,” said the writer, “fed it reaching over from a twig in 
front, while the wren hopped on its shoulder and fed it sideways. It seemed as 
if it would snap up parents and all. The little birds were evidently in a state of 
terror, and at the same time of proud and loving agitation. As they fluttered off 
twittering to find more food on the ground, their prodigy pursued them overhead 
from tree to tree.” It would be interesting to know if any Selbornians have ever 
known of a case in which a young brood has been reared by robin and wren. 
C. E. C. 
Number of Eggs laid by Cuckoo.— Mr. Johns’ belief that the number 
of eggs laid by the cuckoo varies from five to twelve appears to be erroneous 
(Nature Notes, p. ii8) judging from the conclusions of Dr. Rey. In an elabo- 
rate essay on the economy and habits of this singular bird published in Marshall’s 
“ Zool. Vortrage,” heft xi., the German naturalist gives it as his opinion, based on 
a course of very careful observations, that the average number of eggs laid by each 
cuckoo in a season is about twenty, and that they are laid every alternate day. 
A'eszvick Hall, Norwich. J. H. Gurney. 
Reasoning Power in Dogs. — The following story I can verify as being 
perfectly true. A little child had been left by her nurse in the room and began 
crying. The dog of the house, a little terrier, hearing it, ran down to the kitchen, 
carried back in his mouth a hunk of bread, and laid it near the child, to stop her 
cries evidently. This is only another of the many instances of the strange affec- 
tion between dogs and children. 
Deal. F. M. M. P. 
A Tame Canary. — A friend of mine had a very tame canary. His parents 
were lapanese, and he was brought up in England. When quite young his leg 
got broken, which in a way was, we thought, the means of making him very- 
friendly with his owners. When quite well again he used to sleep in the old 
lady’s room, and every morning out of his cage he would hop on the bed and 
lie on the old lady’s neck for hours, sometimes licking her with his little tongue, 
and very often go to sleep there. When she was up he would make himself at 
home on her cap. If the window happened to be left open he would hop about 
