The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-02
THE WAYS of PARROTS.
Some of the Greatest Feathered |
LInguists Have a Vocabulary of
500 Words.

Some of the Greatest Feathered
Linguists Have Vocabulary of
500 Words.
From Rochester Union and Advertiser.
Parrots are more in demand now than
they have ever been before said a deal
er the other day. Formerly nearly all the
parrots that came to this country were
brought by sailors, and in those days a
parrot was a rarity, and doubtful pet at
least; for a good many of these birds had
learned to swear during the passage
through hearing picturesque language
from the sailors. This hurt their sale, as
people were always afraid that Polly
pany was present, and certainly she was
not a desirable companion in a select
home. In years gone by we used to be call
ed on very often to exchange a bird that
would "cuss," but now they are caught
and shipped north very green. In fact,
when only three to six months old, and the
sailors get no chance to teach them BAD
words.
pets is now a regularly organized and we'll
developed branch of trade. Most Of the par
rots in the market to-day come from
Southern Mexico. A few years
ago the popular bird was
a gray parrot. which came from
Africa But of late years the Mexican
green parrot-of which there are three
varieties-the double yellow head, the read
head, and the large Mexican red head
have taken its place entirely, for two ex-
ceIlent reasons. They are a harder bird
and a bird that will sing-that, IS, OF
course, initiate singing, which the gray
parrot cannot be depended on for. he
never was much of a musician.
THE Mexican parrot on the contrary, Is
a very fine singer, and can be taught any
thing short of an air from grand opera.
Then the gray parrots are very delicate
birds. They are caught young and brought
over in steamers and kept in a warm room
on the vessel, sometimes the boiler room.
With the sudden change of climate on
landing in this country they often get
pneumonia or some other lung trouble,
and if they once get sick there Is no saw
ing them. Here the Mexican bird again mas
the advantage. He is quite hardy and re-
qures much less care in acclimaton. The
average life of these Mexican birds is
twenty to twenty-five years. They have
been known to live fifty or sixty years.
OF course, some of the encyclopedias will
try to prove by statistics that the parrot
lives to be a hundred. But you can put
that alongside the story that the elephant
lives a thousand years.
There are exceptions to the average
age of parrots of course, but bird %
years old is as rare as man that lives
to 100. The Mexican green parrot lives
in the depth of the woods, 80 to 100 miles
from the sea coasts of Mexico. He is
prolific breeder, and keeps well paired the
season through. Each pair will average
three broods of two to three birds apiece.
They inhabit high trees, and live princi-
paly on fruit nuts, and berries. The
breeding season is over in August, and
then the birds separate till the next
mating season, in March. They fly in
hocks regardless Of each other. They have
powerful wings and are great flyers, but
are not migratory. Hundreds Of poems
near Tampico and other towns make a