He showed his intelligence and quickness in a very curious way.
During the time that the regiment was quartered in Scotland he was lost; he had either wandered out of the barrack-gate, and had failed to find his way back again; or he had been picked up and carried away by some thief. He was, however, never seen or heard of for many months, and was given up as lost.
The regiment then removed to Edinburgh; and two or three soldiers went to visit a sort of zoological garden in the outskirts. There were a great number of cages, among other things; and the attention of the men was attracted to one of these cages by the violent fluttering and exertion made by the inhabitant to get out.
On coming closer to the cage, they perceived that the prisoner was the old Cornish Chough; and they asked the keeper if it was lately that they had confined it, since it seemed so uneasy.
The man said that it had been in that cage for a long time, and never had been otherwise than perfectly quiet and satisfied.
They wished to take it away, saying they knew the bird's former master; but the owner refused to part with it, and the soldiers passed on.
On their way back, the keeper was still standing watching the bird; who, as soon as the soldiers came again in sight, fluttered and dashed itself violently against the bars.
The man said that losing sight of them, it became quiet, and sat dolefully on its perch; but the moment it again saw them, it exerted all its strength to reach them.
There is no doubt that the poor bird recognised the red-coats, among which it had formerly lived, and wished to go to his old friends.
The soldiers told the officer how they had discovered his old pet; and he purchased it from the keeper of the garden.