THE PARROT AS A TALKER
Chief among the talking birds are the parrots. These quaint and curious winged chatterers have long been kept in the home of man, for we have tales of them more than two thousand years old. It was 1504 when the first parrot reached England, but now they are to be seen in all parts of the world, some kept for their brilliant colors, some for their wonderful power of speech.
Best known among them as a cage-bird is the Gray-parrot, the ablest talker of the family, the amusing Poll-parrot seen in so many homes. Though a cage is provided, they become such home-bodies as to be given all the liberty they want, being often free to go about the house, though they look upon the cage as their special dwelling place.
The White Faced Parrot
Poll-parrot has a great deal of human nature in his little body. He thinks, he remembers, he imitates, he enjoys a joke, loves his friends and hates his enemies, and when he learns words he often knows just what they mean and when and how to use them. When our parrot says "Polly wants a cracker!" it may not be a cracker that she expects but it is something to eat, and she is apt to keep up the call until she gets it.
There is no end to the tales about parrots and their odd speeches, often strangely fitted to the time and place. They can be taught to say a great many things, and often know just how to bring them in. Here is one told by Mr. Romanes, showing a parrot's wit in a tricky way no man could surpass.
"One day the cat and parrot had a quarrel. I think the cat had upset polly's food, or something of the kind; however, they seemed all right again. An hour or so after polly was standing on the edge of the table; she called out in a tone of extreme affection,
"'Puss, puss, come then—come then, pussy.'
"Pussy went and looked up innocently enough. Polly with her beak seized a basin of milk standing by and tipped the basin and all its contents over the cat; then chuckled diabolically, of course broke the basin, and half drowned the cat."
Here is another story of parrot wit. The bird was making a variety of squeals and cries. One of the men who heard began to imitate her. This roused the parrot to try new cries, and at last she made one so odd that he could not repeat it, try as he would.
Proud of her triumph, the parrot gave a loud "Ha! ha! ha!" swung on her perch with her head downward, sprang about the cage, tossed a piece of wood over her head, and kept repeating the cry, followed by peals of "Ha! ha! ha!" till everybody joined in her wild laugh.
The parrot has a good memory and will pick up a good many words and phrases, even the verses of a song taught to her. Many she gets by listening to words often said and at times will come out with a new bit of apt language to the surprise of every one who hears it. If a word she has once learned comes into her head, she often follows this word with all the other words and sayings learned at the same time.
Here is a parrot story going back as far as 1672, one which was much talked of at the time. It is of an old parrot of Brazil when Prince Maurice was governor there. The Prince was told of the strange talking powers of this bird and sent for it. When it was brought into the room, where were many men with the Prince, it began,
"What a company of white men are here."
"What is this man?" asked one, pointing to the Prince.
"Some general or other," said the parrot.
"Where did you come from?" asked the Prince.
"From Marinnan."
"To whom do you belong?"
"To a Portuguese."
"What do you do here?" asked the Prince.
"I look after the chickens."
"You look after the chickens," said the Prince, with a laugh.
"Yes, and I know well enough how to do it," and the parrot began to cluck like a hen calling chickens.
It is hard to believe that a parrot could keep up a conversation in this correct way, but the story comes from Sir William Temple, who is very good authority, and who was told it by the Prince himself.
We are told of a French parrot which could laugh like a man, and would break out into a hearty chuckle when some one said (of course in French), "Laugh, parrot, laugh."
The odd thing was that it would follow the laugh with the words,
"Oh, what a fool to make me laugh!" and repeat this two or three times.
A lady had a gray parrot four years old which was very quick in taking up new words and very correct in using them. When he did some bit of mischief his mistress would scold him, to which he would reply angrily,
"Not a naughty Poll!" "Not a bold, bad bird!" and would stamp his foot, crying "I am not—I am not."
If she praised him he would tell her she was a darling and that he loved her. He was jealous when children were present and were made much of, and would cry,
"Go away, bold boy!" "Go away, bold girl," never mistaking between boy and girl.
When a visitor took off coat or shawl the bird would act as if trying to take off his wings, and laugh heartily at his performance if any one else laughed. He would play with the cats till he was tired of them and then whistle for the dog to chase them away.
A Gray Parrot on His Perch. Waiting to Speak His Piece
We might go on and on with parrot stories, for they are endless. Very likely many of you could tell me as good ones as I can tell you. One thing of note about these birds is their love of a joke. Here is a tale of one of these jokers that loved to make fun of Carlo, the dog. Carlo would be snoozing in a corner of the room when polly would cry out in a voice exactly like his master's,
"Hi, Carlo! Cats!"
Up would jump the dog, rush into the garden, look fiercely round, then, hearing a fresh cry of "Cats! Cats! Seize them, Carlo!" would bound over the wall into the next garden. The next moment the bird, with a wonderful change of tone, would call out in the master's sternest tones,
"Come back, Carlo! Come back, you naughty dog!"
Back would come Carlo in a slinking way, as if expecting to feel his master's cane.
Another bird was fond of playing jokes of a different kind on the house dog. It would whistle and call out in a soft tone,
"Gyp, poor old Gyp! Does Gyp want to go out?"
The dog, delighted at the prospect of a run with its master, would begin to frisk and dance about, looking around to see where he was. This got to be a common trick with the bird, for the dog never found out that it was being tricked by the parrot.