The sun., 1891-01-24
SOMETHING AB0Ur PARROTS.
IT'S . False Motion that Their Tongues
should he split to Make Them Talk.

necessary to have n pnrrots tongue cut or slit
before 1t can be mRdo 10 talk. Gnd II so. whore
tho operation can be per ormed The question
was put to Mr.. Charles Rei'he. .he an nal
dealer who answered that to slit parrots
tongue would probably destroy all chance OF
the birds over talking, and might result In its
death. He also told the reporter 4 good many
other interesting things Abo,. rar OTIS.
Il don't know how tho roSua ar supcrs,iion
about Sitting ratrots tongue origina Cd"
said Mr. Reiche but it ia very oli. ! have
heard of 1t In every part OF the world, and bavo
seen IL stated for fact In many natural his
tories. toiiovo l. originated ccntur'os ago.
for there are aius ons to the subject OF apiit-
ting the tongues of ravens an morking birds
to make them talk in many old ami musty vol.
umes O! literature. think the idea arose in
disease 10 which certain birds with the power
of articulation n;o SUB cot in captivity. The
disease is known um6Dg bird fnnciers as the
nip" and l. accountable |. In soft-billed irds
like the mocking bird, aud In certain hard
bi'lel birds like tho raven and magpie. by n
horny growth on tbs end OF the tongue. This
growth, OF courso. pr ',ents the birds from ar
tirula,ng. AMI h,is to be removed by cutting
with the knife or scratching with n lonG finger
nall. The 'ongio itsoi is not cut. The
operation restores to ;ho bird its powers OF ar
ticulaton, md # is quito likely that from this
originated tho surerstition that It was neces-
sary to cut or slit birds tongue 70 ennble 1t to
talk. Now rurro, 8 are not subject to the pip ,
In that form. or at lcast never acquire
the horny growth upon the tongue. Actually TO
cut or slit tie tongue Of any bird would probn-
bly, impair the vocal powors forever. aud. as
the tongue OF birds is IN extremely sensitive
member, Il would also probably result In death.
/ have handled many thousands Of parrots In
my lie. many Of them fine takers and Of great
value. but l novor personally handled a bird
with cut tongue. But it Is a fact that thou
sands 81 ignorant persons. particularly In the
county districts where this superstition chiefly
pre-! ais. cut their r9rro's, tongues. But
neys, hear hsard Of such .r bird haI taking
ways A. everybody knows they live to enor.
nous nees, but 1t 10 not generally known that
reason that can be discovered. For that rem.
son thoy 9re very risky stock for the dealer to
sn srSs in he eys bad Ss srGs sss G
elddenly all die. II one parrot in an invoice
dies. then you may, expect them all to die. I
SSs no dissossrssd SCs %ba a'SsSssS Sosf
thni Il aRne mas sarav
very young. Bids caught old and domesH-
Gated Gated az ., not ,,n make gooI takeSrs.soneimes RS
msdistsy after Il has et the nest rTu and Gcfore or
aHe hss e'ner ssso%s is sss s.Ga
qess and patience. She must win its conii-
Senc9 Ssn and rSsaTd saino by kinh
scream, and ,nuter when she approaches,
and and win climb upo{n her hanl Of il; own ac-
parrot will pick up phrases of itself. always
often repspteed: II there is dog in the house
DO tho noise i will hear most freauentlS Then len
y VIII probably next catch ub the names Of
senseuses She Should sSras qt It
Words soqaa cs phrases room over and dS Sss
xsSEs; W rI,. !! nesSsssaly s ana before ionx Poly
repeating Il at some unexpected time. As a
rule, parTots do not need any teaching in a
talk But when they % start thers Is no end
nor y9nr pnlro. wlll pull corks when the minis.
n:sh 81 IS os 1 species h'
Of q talking 4. species :" asked So. ths renortei
said Mr. Reche they icy are caashs 1rS q yesae
enough; bpt there are a few varieties whfh
ths African gray parrot Il is head aud d sho,e
Is also much plsassnter BIRD Il Than nyt any otsr M
to have IN house on account Of rs less hssh
Rssbbots all 6aSs strn
Sow Vol trained they ' are never ' b.eomesos- S s-
sna n Learns as to sGtHs ms sOSs tSs
SoISeS OF members ts 2f the family So tht it is
or your parrot. Partly for this reason. and
partly because gray parrots are all .aken to
In this country than any OF the OF her vat eties
They cost from . to sl2 apiece Hntraned. and
RHsSs hs
Most Of them come from Liberia and Monrovia. |
The blacks In those countries Catch them In
Wbes COAST sen Ths baes have
uar parrot farms In their coast yilIiges. Catch
ssss 81 beks
depopulate,. Men. w9men. and .yen chi dren
sate into the s,s ard RIB nests
fSs hess. and them shin fSA " the recs ssss
ana feed sy them thft iii hey sEe str%ns
enough to M take care Of themsSelves Taen they
mestlcated. and hop ali over the village, return
ins to The huts e b fed. Some of5hsso ",
trsdsrs that sSpear % ssneraly bargain 70 70, The The
whole lot, and give in exchange arms anmu- |
Ssst SsSo nseS aa Fhs ohG iadns THds vssss s
carry them up the coast and gen
erally dispose OF them at ports Whero |
eteamers Ia the African trade stop for cargo. |
The parrots are loaded on the next steamers |
and taken to Europe, generally to English |
ports. where they arc distributed 20 other |
spenkinR. roach England BY sailing vessel.
Many Dutch sailing vessels carry parrots |
diIectly home, however. and they are the best
parrots. You see the parrots are bSdly treated |
on the steamers. They are thrust Into tho |
nIsr, and most Of them are stored ip and near
the engine room. where they are 5ublected for
a a couple Of T. weeks to a. fnghtigl heat
verely by 1t, the more 30 because on reaching |
port they are trnnsferred directly to a climate |
vastly different than their natural African |
climate. The parrots which are brought north |
In sailing vessels are not poksd Into hot cor |
nors. They are well treated, and. tho voyage |
being longer. they come gradually into the |
colder cline. and become uted to 1t by the |
time they reach por. As said. these sailing |
vessels are Dutch. and that is why the gray
parrots We get here from England e. nerally |
turn out 70 mnnh worse than those We get |
from Holland. They are frequently sickly, |
and oftenor hun not fhcy have hoarse. voices. |
and do not mako good talkers Some will never !
talk originally got several biz lots OF gray
parrots from England but they turned out so
buddy that l pH,rOnized Holland afterward |
with the best result. Naturally the HOLLAND |
birds are little more extensive. but 1t ia well
for any person who is buying u parrot to pay q !
III tle more and get n guarantee that the bird /
ua hrp,, ,pl In, Il linz al md a..