St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-01-17
A Remarkable Parrot.

AT Windsor, VT, in the possession OF
Col. NJ. X. Paine, there is a parrot
whose story may be interesting 10 the
boys and girls who read this journal.
1t is gray African parrot, and at the
time 1t was purchased IL .roston was
warranted tO say aI.iI,il, Il ,voI De.
But now he goes far beyond that, and
has learned to vary the sentences to
suit the occasion. In the morning he
greets the family with good morning
pleasant morning" and then if no
one pays any attention to him he re-
peats it, in Il gruff and imperative
voice, until he gets response. He
! INITIATES every sound that he hears, so
| that the members of the family in an
other room are often puzzled. He
picks up snatches of tunes very easily.
| and learns to whistle whole tunes with
good expression. Every luxury he calls
a peanut. One day he lost a peanut
through the wire floor of his cage. He
tried various ways in vain to get hold
OF 1T, and, after stOrming around his
cage, he came as near to il as he could.
and IN wheedling tone, said: Good
morning peanut. Don't you want to
come up ?" He is fond of playing with
an almond, using it as boy would a
ball, throwing it up and shouting,
'HeilO," or "Oh," if it happens to hit
him on the head. AS he throws it he
calls out, 'HeliO, peanut At night
the canary birds cage is put on the
table by him, and he comes down from
his perch as close as he can and calls
in il tender tone, "Poor little pussy
That is his term for any pet He often
whispers in IL confidential tone, and
laughs at his own joke. He saws:
GLOW do yOu do? Is Polly well? Is
Polly cold What is the matter
What ails you ?" etc. He has a great
deal of curiosity about the telephone.
answering "Hello :" and often calls out.
"What's the talk ~ He likes to have
his poll scratched, and in a cracked
voice rings all sorts of changes on the
sentence, 'Do yOu want mother to
scratch y0ur poll ?" He WAS heard to
say to the cat, "POOr little pussy, do
you want me to scratch your poll ?"
He remembered the family that he
lived with formerly, and calls their
names and says, "Where is the little
boy Has he gone to school 2" He
let out the fact that he had been ac-
NH9''ih'' w w l'illlISHtu- sometimes
he bites the wires of his cage and
makes them ring, and shouts, "Naugh-
ty, naughty, Polly! Do You want the
stick ?" When he is punished he cries,
Get out! Go away" and stands on
one foot, and, holding up the other,
turns it over and examines it. He
shows great deal of curiosity about
what happens in the house, and one
day watched the opening of IA box, and
said: "What are you doing there ~
He calls himself pet names, such as
"Polly Wolly," "You old scalawag. |
Polly" "You rascal" In Il thunder |
storm he WAS frightened, and at Il very |
loud clap he jumped on his perch, and |
in human, frightened tone, cried out
"What's the trouble ?n These are only !
a few specimens of the words and sen
tences that he has acquired, and he is |
learning and is often over
heard practicing the words by himself. |
No idea can he given of the wonderful |
variety of expressive tones that he EN-
plOys. His range is beyond that used |
by ordinary upOnIp