Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-09-18
QUEER BIRDS THAT TALK.
THE GAUDY PLUMAGED PAR
ROT AS 4 HOUSEHOLD PET.

L
ROT AS 4 HOUSEHOLD PET.
Where the Takers Come From and How
They Pick Up Words-Parrots That
speak Many Lsuguages, but win Not
SWear-Some Valuable Birds and
WHAT Makes Them Valuable-People
/ Who are the Bird Fancier's Rest Gus
| toners.
Next 10 the little silver-tongued cana
ries, the gaudy plumaged parrot is the
most popular of the teathered pets. An
individual dealer may, perhaps, sell fifty
canAries or hooking birds to one parrot,
/ but the singers have delicate consttions,
and, as a rule, do not live long. The bird
| taBciers know better than anyone else
what trouble purchasers have with their
| pets. 1t Is common experience for
| customer to come back three and four
! times year for new bid. the one
/ bought last never seemed bright" they
say, land it died in less than two months
after taken home" Occasionally a par
rot gets sick ard dies, nat generally
/ speaking parrot flesh IS not heir 10 many
/ ills, ana the takers frequently live to
! venerable age.
Mr.. Jacob Gardner said yesterday OF
/ parrots that the hest takers come from
Africa. The gray African learns quickly,
/ ana its tone approaches nearer the human
/ voice than that of any other species OF the
! parrot family. The gray Africans live to be
] thirty and forty Years old, aud Instances
are not rare of their living more than one
! hundred years. cry few OF these birds
! are brought here. The Savannah parrot
| market is supplied by Northern dealers
and sailors from the West Indies, Mexico
! aud South American ports. Mexican and
! Cuban birds are often brought here by
sailors, aud if a tar comes to the door and
| offers pair of Venezuelan birds It Is five
to one that they are MeXicans or Cubans.
! The Nenzuplas talk almost as well as the
! Africans, and their plumage is more bril-
| liant.
Birds from the Brazilian forests are the
| most gorgeous plumaged.
Married people who have no children
! are good customers of bird fanciers, and #
! they only buy one bird they generally take
Il parrot. Other birds may sing like Ca
| lypsO, but they cannot talk. An intelli-
gent talker is really companion in many
! households and fills the place OF prattling
youngsters. AS the parrot simply imi-
| tates sounds, considerable practice is nee
| essary before Polly can talk. The names
| which the bird hears the otteDest are the
| ones which it first learns. Six months at
least are required before a parrot, unless
! it is remarkably bright, acquires anything
Of a vocabulary. pretty Poll" and
Polly wants a cracker" are the first
words learned as rule. Names OF men,
bers of the family are soon learned. The
| intelligence of some birds is wonderful
A family in this CITY recently had
two Mexicans, an old one and young
one. Both would watch every OnpOr-
tunitv to get out of their cages. When
! old
slip about the house stealing whatever it
could find, but always slyly trying to
avoid being seen. In case the young one
happened TO get out aud the ola one could
not, the latter would scream "Polly's
outW until some one came. Apparently
the old one took mlschievous delight in
giving the young one away.
Another family has bird which sings
"Peek-a-B Boo" to the amusement of every
one who hears it, and $500 would not buy
the parrot. There is popular Impression
that q parrot will learn TO swear quicker
| than it will learn to use words that are
| not profane. A gentleman Of this CITY
| who has at least three birds says that the
| impression is not founded on fact. TO
satisfy himself he tried to teach
his birds a few choice oatbs. But after
considerable trouble he gave 1t up as
| too difficult task.
| Whether the birds had conscientious
| scruples as to profanity be would not say,
| but they would not learn to swear. A
! bird that sailor has owned is not apt to
| be conscientious on the subject, but the
| swearing birds are not near so common
| as is supposed.
Parrots often speak two languages, as
German and English, or French and Eng
lish. The prices run from Soup to $50,
and even higher.
"Barnaby Ridges" raven, "Grip," and
| Foes raven, "NeVeTmore," must yield
| the honors OF talking to q parrot owned by
| United Senator Leland Stanford, OF Cali
| fOrnia. He paid several hundred dollars
for 1t, and 1t 10 said to be wonderfully
educated bird. 1t speaks four languages
| English, French, German and Italian.
The strange part of it is that the parrot,
as soon as he hears anyone speak, knows
! in what language to address the person.
| For long while no one knew that the
parrot spoke Italian. until one day an
Italian artist came to the house 10 do
some work and the parrot heard him talk
| AT once the bird started to iabber Italian
and had quite conversation with the
man. 1t ALWAYS talks German to the Ger
man servant and French to the maid. The
parrot, when anyone comes down
in the morning, says, "GOod morning, |
hope you rested well.'' He is very par
ticular, aud one day, when a stranger
went up to him and said, "Pretty Polly,
Polly want a crackerY he quite aston
isbed the person by saying, "Ob, stop that
foolshness. Can't you talk sense! am
tired of that rot" The parrot has not
learned to say "Cbestnuts' yet, but very
often, when asked II he wants cracker,
SAYS, ''Thats old, give me something
new" He longs to sing, and like the Sa-
vannan bird mentioned above knows
"Peek-a-boo," and chants it loudly at
times to the amusement OF all in hearing.
The parrot has it's favorites among the in
mates of the Stanford residence, and will
talk for hours with them.
DE VOE'S BIG SHAKE.