98 
KING PAEBOT, OB PABBAKEBT. 
was wrapped up, all but a small space in front, in a blanket, and set 
upon the dresser in a rery warm kitchen, where the fire was kept up, 
for the Parrot’s especial benefit, all night as well as during the day; 
he was fed on sponge-cake and hemp-seed, he would eat nothing else, 
and a teaspoonful of sherry was put in his drinking water: in a couple 
of days he was all right, screaming and chattering as usual. 
A lady of our acquaintance who has kept a King Parrot for four 
years, sends us the following interesting account of her pet: — “My 
King has been in my possession for four years, and the person who 
had him before me had kept him three years, so that he is at least 
eight years old, but probably nine, or more. I feed him upon canary- 
seed, hemp, and boiled maize, and supply him with plenty of coarse 
sand and fresh water; for he not only drinks freely, but is extraordi- 
narily fond of washing himself. When he came into my possession 
he was in a very low weak state, and I thought I should have lost 
him; he had been dieted for some time on canary-seed only, and could 
scarcely stand, but by nursing him and giving him hemp and boiled 
maize, and biscuit, captain biscuit, which I used to chew for him, he 
soon came round, and has never ailed anything since. lie is very 
tame and gentle, and talks very nicely: some of the sentences he 
pronounces very distinctly, “'Polly, put the kettle on’; “'Mother, call 
the doctor’; ‘Mother, kiss your darling’; ‘Kiss Sukey, there’s a dear’, 
and so on: he is rather shy and silent before strangers, but is very 
talkative and amusing when I am with him in the room alone. He 
is in very fine condition, and apparently in the best of health.” 
For the correctness of this description we can vouch, for we have 
rarely seen a bird of this species in bettor feather, although he is kept 
in the heart of London; he does not seem, however, to miss the fresh 
air in the least, but appears to be perfectly happy and contented; for 
companions he has a Grey Parrot, a Cockatiel, several Canaries, and 
some Collared Doves. 
