R. H. Masure—A Talking Shell-Parrakeet



15



weeks in the nest-box the baby was removed and found to be able to

crack seed for himself. From then on, his contact with another of his

species ceased, and his education as a pet began. I had great hopes

for his accomplishments as I had handled him every day, since he was

an egg.


In a few days he became very tame, showing no fear of anyone,

and being quite ready to fly on one’s head. This location still persists

as his choice of a “ human perch ”. He soon learned to sit on a

diminutive Parrot stand most of the time he was at liberty. Being

a small bird his' capability of performing was limited but he did learn

to shake hands, walk up a small ladder, and jump through a hoop,

on command. All these tricks were taught by getting “ Nicky 55 —-

as I named my pet when early m January it was apparent from the

dark blue cere that he was a male—to go through the motions desired

and then rewarding him with a bit of lettuce. It took over a month

to accustom him to lettuce, but he became very fond of it. Just about

that time he started his first moult, lasting about two and a half

months, which transformed him into a beautifully marked specimen.


Soon another accomplishment manifested itself. My father,

who had become quite fond of the bird, would go to the cage every

morning greeting him with, tc Come here quick, hurry up ! ” After we

had the bird for about a year—this morning play continuing every

day—I was surprised one afternoon to hear the bird doing a lot of

jabbering that sounded like a Parrot learning to talk, and then suddenly

I heard a distinct “ Come here ” in a small burring voice. Up to this

time the only mimicking that “ Nicky ” had done was to “ peep ”

like our Canary. I was much astonished and only believed my ears

when several other people had listened and decided that the bird was

really talking. Later he learned to say, “ Hurry up,” and to whistle

the first few bars of “ Yankee Doodle We hope he may master

the entire song in time. This winter he has given us an exact imitation

of a person blowing his nose. This was acquired after several members

of the family had lasting colds. He also tries to sing like our Canary

but is not very successful in this.


He really is a charming pet, willing to demonstrate his vocal ability

at any time, his only drawback being that he has quite a mind of his



