"When I was sitting quietly thinking of things in general, and my mistress in particular, Master Dick, who had been sitting at the window all the time, and saw what his aunt had given me, and where I had put it, came stealthily across the lawn; and putting up his hand took hold of my piece of sugar.
"Now, I had determined in my own mind I would punish him the very first opportunity; so I flew upon him in a moment; and catching hold of the sleeve of his coat, held it fast with my claws. He tried to shake me off, but I flew on to his head before he could get away; and I do not know who screamed the loudest. Aunt Mary and one or two of the servants came running out; but though they tried to get me on to my perch, I kept calling, 'Who stole the sugar? Oh fie! greedy Dick!'
"The boy had been so frightened that he forgot to drop the sugar; and on his aunt opening his hand, there it was, safe enough. She had seen him from her room window take it out of my dish; and when I at last allowed her to lift me on to my perch, she gave Master Dick such a beating that he did not steal my sugar any more.—But, Master Herbert, there is something the matter with the cockatoo," said Polly; "I hear him saying some angry words to somebody in the garden."
On looking out of the window, Herbert saw his cousin Grace standing with a young visitor before the cockatoo's perch. Jane, the visitor, was calling him "Ugly Cocky! bad Cocky! ugly Cockatoo!" and telling him that all the nice things would be given to the pussy cat, and everything disagreeable to him. She was doing this for no reason whatever, except that she once heard her brother speaking to a parrot in this manner to see it made angry; and poor Cockatoo, who always considered himself a very pretty bird, and had never been spoken to so unkindly before, was certainly ruffled enough.
"Pretty Cockatoo," he said in reply, looking from Jane to Grace, who could not bear to annoy the poor bird.
"Oh, don't speak so, Jane," said Grace; "Cockatoo is such an amiable, pretty bird! He has been so good-natured ever since we came; and Herbert says he is trying to be contented, though of course he greatly prefers to live in his native woods, poor bird."
"But how does Herbert know the cockatoo likes that?" said Jane.
"Oh, because a fairy gave him permission to understand the language of the birds," replied Grace; "and the cockatoo told him his whole history."
"Oh dear! how funny!" said Jane. "I wonder if the fairy would give me permission!"
"No, I don't think so," said Grace; "people must be very kind to all the animals, both great and small, else the fairy will not give them that power. But Herbert says, if we are very kind to the animals, even although we do not understand their language exactly as he does, we will get to understand a different kind; and by the expression in their eye, and by their voice, will know when they are happy or sad. Now, you always kill every insect and fly you see."