The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-05-18
A BIG DEMAND FOR PARROTS.


Birds of Genius Who Are Highly Accom-
plished Fetch as High $500.
where did you get that hat?" inquired
shril voice, coming from somewhere within the
long rows of bird cages lining the sides of
Fancier Schmid's bird store. The reporter re-
moved his new felt head-covering and glared in
dignantly about to locate the impudent inquirer
"Oh, never mind him" laughed the bird man.
"That's only Ben"
"Only Ben Who's Ben ?"
"Ben Butler the finest conversationaist
have in the place. Here he is" continued Mr..
Schmid, bringing out green parrot, with
double plumage of yellow on top of its droll-
looking head. He is a Mexican double-yellow
head, and can't be bought for less than $500, and
he's worth every cent of it, too. Birds of this
variety are the easiest taught to speak or mimic
the human voice. This bird" showing large
gray parrot, "1s, however, commonly supposed to
learn quicker than any other of the parrot FAM
lily. He comes from Africa. There is another
bird, wrongly called parrot and often sold as
such, but it is really macaw. Its plumage is
very beautiful, but the bird is stupid and never
learns to speak, making only harsh, rasping
noise.
Parrots are becoming quite the rage again.
Mr. Schmid continued, "for while at this season
more of them are sold than during all the rest of
the year put together, our sales this spring are
at least three times as great as those of last
rot, with the gray good second. At this time
of year many parrots arrive at New York. They
are brought up by the schooners, plying between
trade. The parrots form as noisy and
troublesome cargo as ever burdened
attention S and many die on the Sa Journey. ord
nary parrots, young and uneducated can be
bought at from 81 to, $40, according to appear
ance and nativity Educated parrots, of course,
cost great deal more, bringing from $50 to Sl5O.
and even touching such fancy figures as S45O and
lections from the various operas, and render
them with great accuracy and ease, but it is not
every parrot that can be taught to sing; The
first thing parrot learns usually is to whistle,
and nearly every one can do this well. 1t does
not require any special training, as they readily
pick up the art if hung IN an open window near
the street where they can hear. No efforts to
teach one to talk or sing should be made until
the bird is two or three years old or the chances
are the bird will never amount to anything.
Profanity evidently comes perfectly natural to
a parrot, at least it would seem so from the ease
who spent most of her time for years teaching a
parrot any number of religious hymns, proverbs,
open Widow now and hen Bad e
would gather under the window, and within a
month Polly could begin piece of sacred music
and finish with string of oaths that would cause
pirate to die of envy. Parrots have a great
sense sense OF the humorous. and their imitation t OF
preston of their own mirth."
II see you have several starlings. Is there
much demand for the bird?'
Yes, lately great many have been imported
from England and sold. They also learn to talk
easily and to articulate with much distinctness.
Uneducated they bring an average price of S12;
when educated the figures for them climb rapidly
up into the hundreds. Magpes also are good
takers but great thieves, and undesirable on
that account. Still many of them are disposed of
in Washington.
I'VE don't sell many goldfish now. You see
the Fish Commission gives them away in halt
dozen lots to whoever wants them, and that cuts
our sales down. However, it makes trade in
aquariums, fish globes, fish ornaments, and fish
food; so in the end we are really benefited by it,