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Sydney Portci—The Story of a Quaker Parrakeet



Notwithstanding that several of the Cockatoos were almost about

to qualify for the old-age pension, and also that several had been given

by the writer of this article, these deadly birds met the fate which no

doubt they richly deserved—they were all shot ! And so the population

of Derby was saved—or at least nearly so.


Knowing the Socialistic tendencies of my family, it was a great

wonder that the local Press did not discover in my action of giving the

birds to the said “ Arboretum ” a sinister Bolshevik plot to annihilate

the rest of the peaceful inhabitants of the town by the introduction of

these death-dealing feathered fiends who, every moment of their

lives, breathed millions of the deadly “ Psittacosis ” germs into the

pure air of Derby. At all events, my sinister designs were thwarted—

no one died of “ Psittacosis ”. Possibly the wind was always blowing

in the wrong direction, or the air of Derby was too pure ! Or possibly

it may have been due to the ignorance of the local medical fraternity,

for we are told by certain eminent medical authorities that

“ Psittacosis ” is practically indistinguishable from pneumonia: so in

their lack of knowledge, not having had to deal with the disease before,

they may have diagnosed many cases as pneumonia.


When this malady was so rampant (in the columns of the Press)

many a village doctor was called in to visit a sick child ; if the symptoms

were difficult of diagnosis the doctor would ask : “ Have you a Parrot

in the house ? ” “ Why, yes, the one wot Uncle Sam brought from India

when he came home on leave.” There was a grave consultation. The

child had “ Psittacosis ”. Polly’s death-knell was rung, so was the

pretty green neck. Humanity must be saved, even though the child

does beg for her pet to be saved, but what are the tears of a child to

the fate of a nation ?


I am quite sure that I must have had several attacks of

“ Psittacosis ” in the days when it was so fashionable ; how could

I escape when I kept dozens of Parrots ? but the unenlightened doctors

always declared it to be pneumonia. Still what did it matter, I never

did like to be in the fashion where ailments were concerned, and no one

would have been able to satisfy their sadistic desires, for I would never

have let any of my Parrots be destroyed.


To get back to the hero of the story, who has not had so much as



