REASON. 
147 
fairly to cut his way past, in doing which he received 
severe punishment from the bird’s beak; the Crane 
following him right up to the door of his house. Since 
the event the bird has remained at open feud with his 
insulter, and never allows him to pass by without 
interruption.” 
These are sketches from, so to speak, the mental life 
of a bird, which have had an acute observer for their 
• 
describer. They speak for themselves, and need no 
explanation. I, for my part, have not wished to give 
them in an abridged form, and have, therefore, been 
obliged to relate in detail. They will, however, I fancy, 
convince the greatest unbeliever that birds are possessed 
of reason; and I will furnish my converts with another 
amusing anecdote. It relates to a talking-bird, and goes 
to prove that reason alone renders such skill possible. 
The relater is,* or rather was, a warm friend of my 
father’s, an excellent observer of birds, and for many 
years a collaborateur with my father in several of his 
works. He writes as follows :— 
“ The most wonderful creature I have seen for many 
years is a Gray Parrot (Psittacus erythacus) belonging to a 
clergyman of this town (Salzburg). The talking, and 
still more, if I may be allowed the expression, the reason 
and power of discrimination in this bird, border almost 
on the marvellous. I have known it for upwards of four 
years, but it is only in this year (1835) that I have had a 
favourable opportunity of observing it more narrowly than 
before. I took several people to see it, and one and all 
were agreed that it was a marvellous creature, and that 
they had never seen such a bird before, nor had they 
believed it possible such a one could be found. Although 
* Count Courcy Droitaumont, Imp. Master of the Robes, at Vienna. 
