BLUE-FRONTED AMAZON. 
99 
sex was never determined ; but, as tbe males of this species are usually 
very fluent talkers, the probability is that it was a female. 
There are many recorded instances of these birds laying eggs in 
captivity, but none, with which we are acquainted, of their having 
produced young. 
“Of all known animals, there are none so calculated to attract the 
attention and admiration of paan, as those which appear to approximate 
to his own nature, and to partake of some of the attributes of hu- 
manity. This is the case with the apes among the mammalia, and 
the Parrots in the class of birds. Both exhibit some of the physical 
peculiarities of man, and both present a very striking analogy with 
each other. 
“The ape, from his external form, so like the human, his gestures 
and gait, the rude resemblance of his face to that of man, from the 
analogous arrangement of all his organs with ours, has been regarded 
as a species of imperfect and wild man. Had he received the gift of 
speech, like the Parrot, he would have passed for a genuine man in 
tho eyes of the multitude, who judge always rather from external 
appearances than calm and reflective examination. The Parrot is in 
the order of birds what the ape is in that of viviparous quadrupeds. 
It would appear, on first view, to be still more closely connected with 
us, than the latter, because the communion of speech is more intimate 
than that of mere sign and gesture. Besides, speech is the expression 
of thought, while gesture is nothing but the demonstration of physical 
wants. The latter is altogether corporeal, the former appertains to the 
mind. 
“We must not, however, consider the articulated voice of the Parrot 
as a proof of the superiority of his intelligence over that of other 
animals, or of its analogy with our own. It is certainly true, that the 
Parrots exhibit the most perfect brain to be found among any of the 
feathered race. The anterior lobes of its hemispheres are more pro- 
longed than they are in rapacious birds, and the encephalon is wider 
and more flatted than long; but as to the intelligence of the bird, 
compared with ours, it can only be considered that there is a point 
of contact between them, as it w 7 ere, but no resemblance. The Parrot’s 
imitation seems purely mechanical; it articulates words, indeed, but 
this cannot be deemed a true language. In the same manner as an 
air is taught to a Linnet with a bird-organ, so a word is taught to 
a Parrot, which he repeats without knowing wherefore. He does not 
comprehend its signification, and though he may repeat it on certain 
occasions, because he has learned it, he sees no reason for doing so 
like man. He utters, indifferently, a prayer or an insult, and those 
