The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-12-31


THE TALKING BIRD.
A BIRD SO very remarkable for its
powers of speech is about to he described
that it will be well to premise that the
sketch to be offered is perfectly true
not the least fiction-and furnishes an
interesting addition to the curiosities of
natural history.
The subject of the narrative is par
rot which belongs to Mr.. Peter Truefitt,
photographer, Edinburgh, and may be
seen in that gentleman's establishment
at IS Princes street by any respectable
lady or gentleman who may wish to make
its acquaintance. l am grateful to Mr..
Truefitt for his kindness in authorizing
me to make this statement, because 1t
will save me from being suspected of in.
venting the story of the birds extraor.
dinary talkativeness.
l became acquainted with Mr.. Truefitt
in the summer of 1873, and having occa-
sion to visit him one Saturday afternoon
was invited to drink tea with the family.
The only other stranger present was
Mr.. p, who, like myself, had called
on business. Mr.. P was a Spiritual
ist, and of Spiritualism in his conversa-
ticn there was no end. He told us of
having been present at seance in Lon
don the previous week and could assure
us that he had seen human body pass
through the air from one
room to another without any support
save that given to it by the "sririts."
" What" I exclaimed, "a human body
pass through the air horizontally with
out any support!" Mr.. P quietly an
swered: IL have said So" There was
silence for moment; and then voice.
l hear it yet-quiet, grave, solemn, but
intensely satirical, uttered these words:
4" MY CoNsciENuE!' I turned round and
found, to my astonishmcnt, that tht
speaker who had SO suddenly and unex-
pectedly introduced himself was par
rot, which, after having thus expressed
itself, sat on the lower part of its cage,
with its head on one side, looking straight
across the table at Mr.. P. "Won-
dertulr' l calculated. Mr.. P. trembled,
but could not keep his eyes from the
parrot. "Eh, you rascal" raid Poll,
" 20 to the kitchen You're Fenian.
That's what say" And having thus de-
livered itself it sprang into it's
ring, and shouted at the pitch of its
voice: "Ring the bell, ring the bell"
Mr. P became pale, rose to his feet,
called for his hat and umbrella, and
finally said goodby," and took his de-
parture. He did not long survive this
fright. Peace be with his ashes!
As the reader may suppose, was at
once an admirer of Poll. | had heard
parrots in a cracked voice endeavor to
say Pretty Poll;" but what other par
rots had attempted this parrot had
achieved, and having been assured that
what he had said was nothing to what
he could say, was determined to inter
view him. This determination l made
known to Mr.. Truefitt, who invited me to
spend the following Monday with him.
According to appointment went
early and was ushered into the dining
room by the servant. Breakfast was set,
but, with the exception of Mrs. Truefitt,
no one had come down stairs. Poll was
in his usual place, and appeared to be
very much excited. ! got out my pock-
et-book and pencil to be ready. "Well
take our seats at the table, said Mrs.
Truefitt; and we had no sooner done 50
than Poll perched on one Of the bars
which ran across his cage, and looking
toward the door Of the room shouted in
q sound, clear, distinct voice: "Peter,
come to breakfast. Polly wants his
breakfast. Quick, you rascal" 1t being
there was no coal in the
CRATE, but, lifting the poker, Mrs. True
fit made feint of stirring the fire, when
the parrot, in most pathetic voice, said;
as it very colds" When Mr.. Truefitt
entered the room Poll more than sur
prised me by bowing most gracefully
and saying: "Good-morning, Mr.. True
fit; hope you are we'll" But when the
auntie of the family appeared the joy OF
the bird was unbounded. "Auntie," he
said, "comment oous, portez-cous? What
news in the ScOtsman this morning?
Come and kiss me, auntie. Come and
kiss me, darling. Kiss me, then. Oh,
kiss mer This was uttered in most
affectionate voice. I felt astounded, and
could scarcely believe my own eyes and
ears. Nor would he cease repeating the
latter sentence until the auntie ap-
preached him and wished him good-morn-
ing. What surprised me most was the
appropriateness of the birds words to the
OF course this was the
result of training; but how could bird,
not possessed of reasoning faculty, be
trained to know not only hoso to articu-
late certain words, but sotcn to articulate
theme This was the question which
puzzled me. For example, when the
cups were being filed he looked grayely
down to the table and asked: Are ye
wantin' yer tear" and when we began to
eat he initiated the smacking of lips, and
asked: us it nicer Is It good-very
eood?" And after he had partaken OF
some dainty which Mrs. Truedtt gave
him he again initiated the smacking Of
lips and pronounced it "good, good,
nice, nice, very NICE" The fact H this
appropriateness ssys much fF Mrs.
Trueftt, his sole and exclusive teacher;
but / confess that ! have always felt .
dinlculty about Il. We had salmon for
breakfast, and, some one having asked II
It was good, Poll said: "Fine, fine
teste it, taste IT, and again initiated the
smacking Of lips, as II he were tasting
It himself. During the half hour or 70 We