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

THE TALKING BIRD.
A BIRD SO very remarkable for its
powers of speech is about to be 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 a par
rot which belongs to Mr. Peter Trueftt,
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. am grateful to Mr.
Truefitt for his kindness in authorizing
me to make this statement, because it
will save me from being suspected Of In.
venting the story Of the birds extraor-
binary talkativeness.
/ became acquainted with Mr. Truefitt
in the summer Of 1873, and having occa-
sion to visit him one Saturday afternoon
" dS lAf1bCu W vi lin tCd WIN tuC lhlully.
The only other stranger present was
Mr.. P, who, like myself, had called
on business. Mr.. P was Spiritual
list, and of Spiritualism in his converse
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
horizontally through the air from one
room to another without any support
save that given to it by the "sririts"
F" What" 1 exclaimed, "a human body
pass through the air horizontally with
out any supportw Mr.. P quietly an
swered: g. have said So" There was
silence for moment; and then voice.
/ hear it yet-quiet, grave, solemn, but
intensely satirical, uttered these words:
" Mr. eoNseiENcE!' I turned round and
found, to my astonishmcnt, that tn.
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-
dertulv' calculated. Mr.. P. trembled,
but could not keep his eyes from the
parrot. "Eh, you rascal" taid Poll,
" 20 to the kitchen. You're a Fenian
That's what say" And having thus de-
livered itself it sprang into it's
ring, and shouted at the pitch of it's
voice: Ring the bell, ring the bell"
Mr.. P became pale, rose to his feet,
called for his hat and umbrella, and
finally said good-by," 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 endeayor 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 peck
st-book and pencil to be ready. "We1l
lake our seats at the table, said Mrs.
and we had no sooner done SO
han Poll perched on one Of the bars
which ran across his cage, and looking
toward the door Of the room shouted in
! 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
itt made feint of stirring the fire, when
The parrot, in most pathetic voice, said:
. Is it very colds" When MIR. Truefitt
entered the room Poll more than sur
prised me by bowling most gracefully
and saying: "Good-morning, Mr.. True
lit; / hope you are we'll" But when the
auntie of the family appeared the joy of
he bird was unbounded. "Auntie," he
said, comment cous, portez-oous? What
news in the Scotsman this morning?
Come and kiss me, auntie. Come and
kiss me, darling. Kiss me, then. Oh,
kiss mel" This was uttered in most
sffectionate voice felt astounded, and
could scarcely believe my own eyes and
,ars. Nor would he cease repeating the
after sentence until the auntie APP
him and wished him good-morn-
ng. What surprised me most was the
of the birds words to the
OF course this was the
.esult of training; but how could bird,
not possessed of reasoning faculty, be
;rained to know not only how to articu-
ate certain words, but whep to articulate
hem, This was the question which |
puzzled me. For example, when the
ups were being filed he looked gravely
Town to the table and asked: Are ye
vantin' yer tear" and when we began to
at he initiated the smacking of lips, and
lsked: lis it nicer Is 1t good-very
,oods" And after he had partaken of
ZONE dainty which Mrs. Truefitt gave
him he again Initiated the smacking Of
ips and pronounced it "good, good,
nee, nice, very nice" The fact u this
appropriateness ssys much fF Mrs.
Trueftt, his sole and exclusive teacher;
but I confess that ! have always felt
3i6lculty about Il. We had salmon for
and, some one having asked II
Il was good, Poll said: Zine, fine;
tsste it, taste IT." and again initiated the
umscking Of lips, Is u he were tasting
It himself. During the half hour or 70 we