ON TEACHING BIRDS TO TALK. 
67 
Parrot, though, on account of the notice generally taken of pro- 
fanity from a Parrot, this is doubtless a more difficult matter than 
if you desire it to forget more innocent observations. 
Dr. Russ says that if you wish to teach a bird to talk you must 
keep it away from other birds. I would modify this statement and 
say, if in addition to what you desire to teach, you do not wish 
your bird to pick up the cries and sayings of others, you must keep 
it by itself ; but 1 do not object to my Parrot acquiring other 
accomplishments, so have never kept it separate. The result is that 
it copies accurately all the notes of my Blue-bearded Jay, and 
repeats all the acquired notes of my English Jay. 
To teach a Jay to talk is a tedious matter; it will imitate 
accurately the cries of various animals, the sound of a trumpet, 
My Grey Parrot— “ Bobby. 
jew’s-harp, or the splashing of water ; it even acquires, without 
difficulty, a vague caricature of a cackling laugh, but it took me a 
whole year to teach my English Jay to repeat the simple remark, 
“ Hullo, Jimmy ! ” and it has never learnt a second observation. In 
this respect 1 think the Raven is the only British Crow which is 
really talented. 
I have often hoard of, but never heard, a talking Starling, 
though at one time I reared Starlings from the nest and spent much 
time in trying to educate them. At tho same time, I do not for a 
moment doubt that the English bird does sometimes make a good 
talker; it is only what one would expect from what one knows of 
the remarkable lalent of some of the Mynahs ; but I should imagine 
that teaching a Starling would be almost as difficult as teaching a 
Roseate Cockatoo, but not qnite. I doubt whether anyono but 
a solitary shepherd in the isolation of his Australian cabin would 
have patience enough to educate that screeching bird ; those that 
