The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-02-17
They ARE CURIOUS BIRDS
Parrots Cannot Talk II Their Tongues
Arc Split, Contrary to Su-
perstition.
They Arc Risky Stock Because
Exceedingly Liable to Die
Very Suddenly.
whore Thsy Come From. How Procu rsA
. Their Market Price-Best
Takers Among Thorn.

. Their Market Prics-Bcst
Takers Among Thorn.
A correspondent has asked tho New Yor]
Sun IL 1t Ia necessary to have q parrot,
tongue cut or slit before IL can be mad
to talk, aad II 80, where tho operation ca,
be performed. The question was mt I.
mr.. CharIes Reichs, the animal dealer, VII,
answered that to slit a parrots tongue
would probably destroy all chance Of tn,
birds ever talking, and might result in III
death. He also told the reporter a Root
many other interesting things about par
Tots.
Il don't know how the popular super.
stition about Sitting a parrots tongue or.
iginated," said Mr.. Heiche. "but il IL very
Old. have heard OF II in every part Of the
world, and have seen IL stated a. q fact in
many natural histories. ! believe It origin.
ated centuries ago, for there are illusions
to the subject of splitting the tongues OF
ravens and hooking birds to make them
talk In many old and musty volumes OF lit
erature. think the idea arose in a
disease to which certain birds with the
power of articulation are subject in capti-
witty. The disease is known among bird
fanciers as the pip" and ia accompanied,
in soft-biiIed birds like this hooking bird.
and in certain hard-billed birds like tho
raven and maybe by a horny growth on
the end OF the tongue. This growth. Of
course, prevents the bird from articuiatinc
ana has to be removed by cutting with tie
XII! Knife o. scratching with . long finger nail.
ton restores TO the bird its powers of artic-
n%letion, and II ID quite likely that from
this originated the superstition that il was
necessary to cut or slit a birds tongue to
enable II to talk. Now parrots are not
s is.:t rsv 20 . the PIP, IN that form, or at
the tongue. Actually to cut or Kit the
tongue of any bird would probably Inn
palr the vocal powers forever, and, AZ
the tongue OF birds 10 an extremely sensi-
i've member; II would also probably result
OF parrots in my life, many Of them fne
takers and OF great value, but / never per
sonally handled q bird with a cut tongue.
But it is q fact that thousands of ignorant
persons, particularly in the country dis
tricts where this superstition chiefly pre-
walls, cut their parrots tongues. But /
never heard OF such a bird talking.
Parrots are curious birds in yery MANY
ways. AS everybody knows, they live to
enormous ages, but it 10 not generally |
known that they are apt to die unexpected
y n for no reason that can to discovered.
For that reason they are very risky stock
Tor the dealer to handle. 1 have had large
invoices OF parrots arrive in the very best
OF health, and soon after suddenly all die.
II one parrot in an invoice dies, then You
Why it i~s-probably some disease.
but no one has yet discovered what. Yonr
correspondent, il she wants her parrot to
talk, should first make sure that she has a
healthy bird, and that it is Of a talking va.
and domesticated do not make good fni1.uio
--scmetimes never talk. Tie parrot should
be taken from its nest in its native woods,
or captured Immediately after it has left
the nest and before it has learned to fy,
IN order to become a good talker. Then ali
That IL necessary is Rentleness and patience.
She must win its confidence and regard by
kind treatment and frequent feeding. until
IL ceases to scream and ffutter when she an.
proaches, and will climb upon her hand Of
10 " accord and show marks of affection,
Then the parrot will pick up phrases of it.
self, always those sounds or words which it
hears most often repeated. II there il a
dog in tho house it will probably learn to
bark nrst, for that will be the noise
II VIII near most frequently. Then it will
probably next catch up the names of differ
ent members of the family. II its mis-
tress wants it to learn special words or
sentences she should frequently carry it to
a secluded room and repeat those words or
phrases over distinctly many times. Let
necessary. and before long Polly will sur
prise the family and her mistress by repeat
ing 1t at some unexpected time. As a rule
parrots do not need any teaching in a fam
lily: They may be a long time beginning to
end to their chattering. If you drink wine
ct dinner you parrot will pull corks when
the minister calls; and if your brother is
given to swearing at the cook your parrot
will swear before you callers. II your
correspondent has u healthy young parrot
of the right species. she need not be afraid
of his not talking.'
How do you know when you have a
parrot OF a talking species?' asked the re-
:. Almost all parrots will talk more or
less" said Mr.. Reiche, "if they are
caught young enough; but there are n few
which are essentially takers, and
these purchasers should be sore of getting.
The best of all Is the African gray parrot.
1t Ii bead and shoulders above every other
as a talker and is also a much pleas
house on account of it's less harsh voice.
parrots all have strident, metal
lie voices, which are exceedingly unplcas.
ant to most people, and no matter how we'll
Trained they are. never become softened.
gray parrot has a softer voice ma tur-
Jf -" 40 ebhio cuAAb W ILultdLe Tue
voices Of members of the family, SO that it
il difficult often to tell whether IL really is
your wife or sister who is talking in the
next room, or you parrot. Partly for this
reason. and partly because gray parrots
are all taken to Europe, they are a good
deal more expensive in this country than
any OF the other varieties. They cost from
~ to $12 apiece unframed, and command
any price trained. The gray i.
parrots are taken OF the west coast Of !.
Most Of them come from Liberia [
and Monrovia. The blacks in those conn J
tries catch them in quantities. md trade
them to the sailing vessels which skirt the
coast. The blacks have regular parrot
farms in their coast villages. Catching par
rots Use business with them. At bieedipp
seasons whole villages of blacks become de-
populated. Men, women. and sven children
into the wilderness and rob nests.
They wait until the eggs are Matched and
the young parrots nearly ready to leave the
nests, and then shin up the trees and take
They carry them home in baskets,
md feed them until they are strong enough
20 take care of themselves. Then they clip
heir wings and turn them loose in the vii Il
age. The young parrots soon become do
nesticated. and hop all over the viilage, re-
turning to the hints to DO fed. Some of q
,hese villages swarm with young parrots.
The first traders that appear generally bar
for fha uhnla fnt aud u;ya in A. =