BING-NEOKED OB BENGAL PABBAKEET. 
59 
but it takes a great deal of teaching; so much so that many people tire 
of the task before it is well begun, and dismiss the poor bird as stupid, 
when they themselves are simply lazy — “too much trouble'’^, etc. 
In order that one of these birds shall become a talker, it is necessary 
to take it in hand when very young, and, as assiduously as possible, 
repeat to it the word or words it is desired to teach it: constant 
repetitions impress the sound upon the Parrakeet’s memory, and after 
a while the patient tutor will be rewarded for his pains, by hearing 
his little pupil repeating to itself in a low, and barely audible key, 
the syllables that have been so often spoken in its hearing, or rather 
directly to it; by and bye, it gains more confidence, and pronounces 
the words more loudly and more distinctly; but, only when it has 
thoroughly mastered its lesson, should a second be attempted, and 
when that has been accomplished, a third, and so on. 
Well taught, the Ring-necked becomes a good talker; but loft to 
itself, like many an idle boy and girl, it learns nothing, and is content 
to pass through life without any accomplishments whatever. 
It seems almost a libel on the sex, but the females of this species 
of Parrakeet are almost incapable of learning to speak; on the other 
hand, they have any amount of capacity for screaming and shrieking 
at the very top of their by no means dulcet voices. 
The Ring-necked Parrakeet is a long lived bird, enduring for fifteen 
or twenty years in the house, and instances are on record where a 
much more advanced age has been obtained. 
“This most delightful of all these long tails"’, writes Dr. Russ, con- 
cerning the subject of the present notice, “is also that which was first 
known in Europe; it is mentioned by Aifistotle, and described by Pliny. 
Many specimens of these Parrots were brought to Rome from Africa 
under Nero: it is also the only member of the family that is common 
to Asia and Africa: its habitat extends from Senegambia to Malacca; 
and in the East Indies it is the commonest of birds. 
“It nests from January to March in the hollow boughs of trees, or 
in crevices in houses and old Pagodas, where it lays from three to 
four eggs. 
“The price of a pair is about twenty-four or thh'ty shillings, but a 
talking Ring-necked is worth ninety shillings and upwards. Herr 
Gudera in Leipsig has one that repeats a goodly catalogue of German 
and French expressions. 
“An old pair in my bird-room lived in perfect amity with other 
Parrots, and small birds, until I made the acquisition of three young 
females, when they immediately attacked the other birds, and maliciously 
bit them. So it behoves one to be cautious. 
