It was time for lunch when Jerry got back from the auction. He was eating his second big waffle and his fourth sausage—the Martins always had an especially good lunch on Saturdays since it was the one weekday they were all home to lunch—when there was a knock at the back door.
Mr. Martin went to the door, and the family heard him say cordially, "Come right in."
Into the dining room came Mr. Bullfinch, parrot cage in hand. The parrot was head-down, holding onto the perch with his feet.
"He speaks Spanish," Jerry said, although he had already informed his family of that fact. "Make him say something in Spanish, Mr. Bullfinch."
Mr. Bullfinch refused to sit down but he did put the parrot cage on a chair. "Say 'Buenos días,'" he urged the parrot. "That is 'Good day' or 'How do you do' in Spanish," he explained. But the parrot said nothing in any language.
By this time Jerry and Andy were kneeling on the floor by the cage. "Pretty Polly. Polly want a cracker?" crooned Andy.
"He's not a she, he's a he," said Jerry.
"Don't put your finger near the cage. He might bite," Mrs. Martin warned Andy.