Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-07-07
TALKING BIRDS.

Prom Leisure Hour
Parrots, starlings, and jnckdaws are
not the only birds that talk" Birds
not possessed OF native powers OF mel.
ody are usually gifted with very varied
abilities of articulation. a hooded crow,
for instance. can produce an astonishing
variety OF complex noises from his
throat, and his talents only lack cult.
vallon to enable him to give utterance
to words; but his natural language Is
the very reverse Of melOdious, and can.
not IN any sense be considered IA a
song" | have known hooded crow
to say Papa :" with great correctness.
and what Is more remarkable, he IN.
varlably applied the name 10 its prop.
cr owner-not the noodles papa, but
his masters. The startling talks very
roughly, indeed, TO his fellows. but lac
Is one Of the best mImics we have, i'm.
ltGtlng the notes Of other birds, and
even the humuu voice, with great &C.
curacy. Magpies also can be taught TO
artlculatc with tolerable degree Of &C.
curacy, The mocking bird, too, so well
known IN some parts OF the United
states, has no natural melody OF his
own, but he contriyes to copy in most
faithful manner the songs Of nearly all
his feathered neighbors.
But II is "a little surprising to find
that the canary, 50 suferby endowed
by nature with musical ta-tc and skill.
viii condcscend on occasion to initiate
the unmelodious tones Of the human
voice, although the fact that he does 20
D. beyond dispute. 4 correspondent Of
Land and Water mentions a canary
owned by an old lady residing in salt.
ford, near Bath. which was ablc 10 pro.
uouncc several words with remarkable
dlstinctness. At the conclusion O. IT.
song the bird nearly always said. "Kis-,
kiss, Miss Lizzie, klss, kiss ,''-Miss
Lizzie being the daughter of its owner
and, after repeating the words more
than once, new song was begun. II
seems that these words were acquired
several years ago, when the bird was
quite young, and during the moulting
season, when Its natural song would bee
discontinued.
Curiously enough. the only cases ]
have known OF talking csnarics have
occurred in the West of England. but
am not able TO draw any conclusion Of
value from that circumstance. /, may
be mere coincidence, or there may
possibly be certain family OF canaries
settled in the west country. whose
peculiar Elit lt is to initiate. with fair
amount Of accuracy, the various iutona
tions Of the human voice. 4 canary
which was owned by lady in Weston.
super Mare was accustomed TO hear It's
rnistress, an invalid, say, on conclusion
Of its song. ooh beauty, beauty Sing
that again ~ These words the bird
picked up, and was soon able TO repeat,
but its education made no further pro.
grcss, aud no additional words were &C
quired. The short sentence, a. in the
case OF the Stafford bird, was never ut.
tered save after brilliant burst of song.
IL is wholly incorrect to suppose that
no nra1',g Is ever attached by talking
birds TO such words or short sentences
"a they may be able TO pronounce. The
well.known case OF the Edinburgh par
rot, whose singular accomplishments
have been already noticed IN more than
one periodical, has settled this question
once and for ever. So far was this
clever bird above "mere parrot. talk"
that he rarely spoke a word which had
not direct relation 10 surrounding ob. !
Jects or events. A strange dog intro
duced into the room was greeted with |
loud cries OF Put him out, Put him
OUT I'm so frightened T. Clergymen
attending his numerous levees were
politely requested to "Gie oot the |
Psalm r. and, az this by itself would
SAVIOR somewhat OF habituAl irrcverence
on Polls part, it is only fair to add that
he was very particular at mealtimes in !
telling the assembled family to "Say
grace frsti'