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[ The imitative bird.—Ver. 1. Statius, in his Second Book, calls the parrot 'Humanæ sollers imitator linguæ,' 'the clever imitator of the human voice.']
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[ The long trumpet.—Ver. 6. We learn from Aulus Gellius, that the trumpeters at funerals were called 'siticines.' They headed the funeral procession, playing mournful strains on the long trumpet, 'tuba,' here mentioned. These were probably in addition to the 'tibicines,' or 'pipers,' whose number was limited to ten by Appius Claudius, the Censor. See the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 653.]
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[ Affectionate turtle-dove.—Ver. 12. This turtle-dove and the parrot had been brought up in the same cage together. He probably refers to these birds in the thirty-eighth line of the Epistle of Sappho to Phaon where he mentions the turtle-dove as being black. This Elegy is remarkable for its simplicity and pathetic beauty, and can hardly fail to remind the reader of Cowper's Elegies, on the death of the bullfinch, and that of his pet hare.]
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[ The Phocian youth.—Ver. 15. He alludes to the friendship of Orestes and Pylades the Phocian, the son of Strophius.]