GREY PARROT. 
45 
careful observation, will show that while the Parrot is certainly capable 
of attaching ideas to certain sounds, it is incapable of generalization; 
and that many of its most apposite answers, and remarks, are no 
more than mere coincidences. 
A Parrot of this species belonging to a chemist in Bermondsey, 
where it is kept in the shop, calls out “Wanted”, as soon as a cus- 
tomer comes in : and if the latter approaches the bird, and looks at it, 
it will put its head on one side and enquire, in quite a confidential 
tone of voice: “Well, who are you?” or “Well, what do you want?” 
Another that belongs to a medical man of our acquaintance has 
learned, when a patient knocks, to say, “Open the door, and call the 
doctor”, but occasionally it reverses this order, and shouts out, Open 
the doctor, and call the door”; apparently quite unconscious of the 
mistake it has made: thus showing that although it may attach, and 
doubtless does, a certain meaning to the sentence it uses, the several 
words of which it is composed convey no ideas to its mind; and that 
this is really the case has been proved, in more than one instance, 
by actual experiment. 
The majority of these birds that are sold in this country, are brought 
from the Gold Coast, but they appear to be pretty generally dis- 
tributed throughout the western and central parts of Africa. 
Buffon relates that in his time a pair of these birds bred for several 
years consecutively in Paris, and reared their young; this statement, 
however, has been questioned by some more recent writers, but is 
nevertheless probably quite correct, for a pair belonging to the late 
Mr. Charles Buxton, M.P., made a nest in a hollow branch, and 
“brought up two young Grey Parrots, which were afflicted with most 
awful tempers. The party of four fly about almost always together, 
and are a great ornament to the place” (Northrepps Hall). 
The some gentleman continues: “A cat made her lodgings m one 
of the nest-boxes, and brought up her kittens in it, and two of the 
Grey Parrots, who had not been industrious enough to lay eggs and 
have a family of their own, were seized with the idea that these kittens 
were their children ; they kept up a constant warfare with the old cat, 
and whenever she left the box one of them used to get m and sit 
with the kittens, and they were constantly in close attendance, even 
when the mother cat was at home.” 
“I had at one time”, continues the same writer, “a flock of eleven 
Grey Parrots at my house in Surrey, but ten of them having got 
shot, the survivor associated himself with some Cockatoos, and for the 
last few years has invariably flown about in their company. 
“The Grey Parrots have the sense to get into a house that was 
