Griggs courier., 1894-08-24
BEAUTIFUL ANNABeL Ice.

she IL . Good Talker and Some PEOPLE
Think She IL Wiser Than Her Years.
This is story about a parrot, and It
Is written in the belief, formed after
carefully watching the bird and study
ing her actions that if she does not
actually think, she at least relies upon
something more than instinct to gov
ern her actions. Her name is Annabel
Lee. She is always called ''Poll."
If you say to parrot that is worth
owning, "Pol1y want a cracker?'' Polly
will answer. 'Polly want cracker" !"
There is nothing extraordinary in that,
for q parrot is = mimic, and it is it's ma
ture to initiate the sounds which it
hears. But Annabel Lee (who is never
called that except when she is intro
duceD has been taught to make a diff
ferent reply.
Polly want cracker?' you ask.
''Yeth, thir," answers Annabel Lee.
Annabel Lee lisps.
Well, that answer may be taught to
q parrot, but it ceases to be mimicry
For she learned the ''Yeth, thir," long
ago, and it is never repeated to her.
Annabel Lee knows how to crow.
You need not crow and wait for her to
initiate you.
Grow, Poll" you say, and Annabel
lifts her voice and crows in way that
would make the scarlet crest Of q barn
yard rooster turn green
The perch which serves as throne
For this gorgeously- -plumed beauty is
carried around the house at the pleas
ure Of the members Of the family. Talk
to Annabel Lee when she is in the
room with you- and she likes it we'll
enough. Forget her, neglect her, pay
her NO attention at all, and you hurt
her feelings. She sits on her perch
silent and mournful for awhile.
"Hallo!'' says Miss Lee, getting tired
of too much silence '@Ah there, Joeyr7
Joey is the name of a woman. Her
relatives, with NO appreciation of the
beautiful in names, have degraded
Joann into ~Joe" and "Joey.~
The mistress of Annabel Lee is named
Frances. This name, of course, has be-
come Fannie. You have heard a wom-
an in the country who has gone, into
the back yard, looking around for her
son, who has disobeyed injunctions and
run away to go swimming. She begins
to call him. His name is Johnnie. She
divides the Johnnie into two parts
'John" and ''nie." The ''John'' she
pitches as high as she can pitch it.
Then she pitched the '-nie" still higher
into shrill falsetto. You have, all
heard it.
"John-n-nieee!" she cries.
When Annabcl Lee and her mistress
are in a room together and the latter
leaves the room unobserved by Anna
bel, Annabel sooner or later misses her.
She looks around in. surprise, mmmbles
to herself, and lifts her voice.:
''Fan-n-ieee!' she calls. If Fannie
answers her all is we'll. If Fannie does
not answer her, Annabel Lee continues
to call till she finds out where Fam
ME is.
More of these examples could be
given to show that Annabel Lee is not
merely a mimic. One further illustra-
tion will suffice to, show that She app
proaches near the thinking condition.
She has, like nearly every living Great
ure in the world, her ''fads." In the
big cage in which she sleeps are sew
eral perches, some swinging; some
fixed. On one of the stationary perches
Near it is a swinging perch. When
she is going to sleep she takes the
swinging perch in her beak. draws it
aside, and hooks it up on Il fixed perch
so that it can not sway. She can not
sleep unless this is done.
The other night one of the, male
members of the family tied a piece of
string to the swinging perch, and fast
ened it so that it could not be hauled
back and hooked up. When Annabel
Lee got ready to go to bed she took
the perch in her beal1 and tugged away
at it. She could not get it in its usual
position. Again she tried. but it was
of no avail. Surprised and alarmed.
she did what she always does when
there is trouble in the family.
''Fan-n-nieee! she called. Fannie
came in to see what the trouble was,
and Annabel Lee grumbled away in a
disgusted manner. Fannie made. NO,
effort to help. her. and. Annabel Lee
showed Il temper. The string. however,
was afterward unlnotted and taken
away, but Annabel Lee was cautious.
She had been made q fool of twice.. and
did not propose to be langhe,lat again,
ortwo men had roared with laughter
when she failed in her attempts and
began to scold. When the men pre-
tended not to be looking, however.
Annabcl Lee cautiously stretched her
neck and took the perch III her beak.
Then she looked around to see il any
scoffer was watching her. Quick as
lightning, she turned again. cnught
the swing, pulled it up and hooked it.
She was as proud as a peacock, and
chuckled again and again in way she
has. When Fannie came to her again
she crowed. 1t seemed TO those who
had watched this proceeding that she
had shown some thinking power.
One thing more, Annabel Ice, being
lady, never swears.-N. Y. Tribune.
SUPERSnTtoUS TRAVELLERS.
A Veteran C0oauctor on the Whims of
Passengers.