394 
THE FESTIVE GREEN PARROT 
off to the spot ; and after looking at the birds for a little while, went to her cage; brought a 
beakfnl of her sopped bread, and put it into the nest. 
At last the young birds were hatched, much to Polly’s delight; but she became so 
energetic in her demonstrations of attachment that she pushed herself fairly through the wire 
mashes, and terrified the parents so much that they flew away. Polly, seeing them deserted, 
took on herself the task of foster-mother, and was so attentive to her little charge that she 
refused to go back to her cage, but remained with the little birds by night as well as by day, 
feeding them carefully, and forcing them to open their beaks if they refused her attentions’. 
When they were able to hop about they were very fond of getting on her back, where four of 
them would gravely sit, while the fifth, which was the youngest, or at all events the smallest, 
always preferred to perch on Polly’s head. 
With all these little ones on her back, Polly would very deliberately walk up and down the 
lawn, as if to give them exercise ; and would sometimes vary her performance by rising into 
the air, thus setting the ten little wings in violent motion, and giving the birds a hard task to 
remain on her back. By degrees they became less fearful, and when she rose from the ground, 
they would leave her back and fly down. They were but ungrateful little creatures after 
all ; for when they were fully fledged they flew away, and never came back again to their 
foster-mother. 
Poor Polly was for some time in great trouble about the desertion of her foster-children, 
but soon consoled herself by taking care of another little brood. These belonged to a pair of 
hedge-sparrows, whose home had been broken up by the descent of some large bird, which was 
supposed to have been a hawk by the effects produced. Polly found the little birds in dire 
distress ; and contrived in some ingenious manner to get them, one by one, on her back, and 
to fly with them to her cage. Here she established the little family ; never entering the cage 
except for the purpose of attending to her young charge. 
The oddest part of the matter was, that one of the parents survived, and Polly was seen to 
talk to her in the most absurd manner ; mixing up her acquired vocabulary with that universal 
bird-language that seems to be common to all the feathered tribes, and plentifully interlarding 
her discourse with sundry profane expressions. At last the instinctive language conquered the 
human, and the two birds seemed to understand each other perfectly well. At that time Polly 
was supposed to be about eight or nine years old. 
There is a rather general belief that only the male Parrot can talk, but this is merely a 
popular error. The female Parrot has often been known to be an excellent talker, and at the 
same time has proved her sex by the deposition of a solitary egg. As might be supposed, such 
eggs produce no young ; but there are accredited instances where the Gray Parrot has bred in 
Europe. In Buffon’s well-known work may be seen a notice of a pair of Parrots that bred 
regularly for five or six years, and brought up their young successfully. The place chosen 
for their incubation was a tub, partially filled with sawdust, and was probably selected because 
it bore some resemblance to the hollow trunk of a tree, which is the usual nesting-place of the 
Parrots. 
The general color of this bird is a very pure ashen-gray, except the tail, which is deep 
scarlet. 
Two species of Green Parrot are tolerably common, the one being the Festive Geeeist 
Parrot, and the other the Amazon Green Parrot. 
The former bird is a much larger and altogether finer species than the latter, often measur- 
ing sixteen inches in length. It is found in various parts of South America, such as Guiana, 
Cayenne, and the Brazils, and is very plentiful along the banks of the Amazon. It is a forest- 
loving bird, frequenting the depths of the vast wooded tracts which cover that country with 
their wonderful luxuriance, and being seldom seen beyond their outskirts. Being of an 
affectionate nature and easily tamed, it is in great favor as a cage-bird, and can readily be 
taught to pronounce words or even sentences. 
The general color of this Parrot is bright green. On the top of the head and behind the 
eyes the feathers are rather pale cobalt-blue, and a deeper tint of blue is also seen on the outer 
