The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-08
WAS A SMART PARROT.
Knew When Sunday Came and Could
Talk Many Languages.

Polly was a bright, emerald green
parrot belonging to Hamilton w. Swift,
of Syracuse, whose pet he had been for
many years. He was a member of that
species of parrot known to ornitholo-
giStS as the yellow-headed green Bra
lillian which, although of somewhat
smaller size than the ordinary parrot,
IS invariably harder, long-lived, more
intelligent and more laxative.
He was taken from his nest before
he could fly in Southeastern Brazil in
the spring of 1860 He was sold by the
an American sailing vessel, along with
other parrots which the sailor had
bought for speculation. Such great in
telligence was displayed by Polly, and
so rapidly did he learn to talk, that the
sailor became attached to him and kept
him as pet aboard ship until 1858, when
adverse circumstances compelled him
to part with his pet and he sold him to
New York dealer, who sold him to
the late DR.. John l.. Swift, of SYRIA
cuSe, who gave him to his son, Ham
iltOn Swift, then just out of babyhood.
Polly was in the family for thirty
three years. At the time of his death,
in this year, 1902, he was forty-two
years of age, an unusual term Of years
for a bird in this climate.
To be at the back of his owners
chair and sit there by the hour, preen-
ing his feathers in contented silence
was another of his characteristics, and
he always seemed to know when to
keep silent on those occasions. A sin
gular example of this birds intelligence
was shown during the latter years Of
his life, when his owner had engaged
in the newspaper business and took
Sunday as his day off" AS soon as
Polly determined that this day was a
day 'at home" he decided that every
| hour should belong to him, and by
whatever means he knew when Sunday
| came, he would begin early in the
morning conversing with himself about
his food and the whereabouts of HAM
| ilton,' as he called Mr.. Swift. If he
received no notice he would become
vociferous in his demands, to which
he added whistling and the favorite
catchy songs of the time.
Polly feared nothing, and never hesi-
tated to attack anything that he felt
was presuming in any way on his
| domain. He had friend, a wonderful
mastiH named Roy, and was accus-
toned to ride around on the dogs
back or follow him about the yard.
The only times in his long life that
he evinced any fear was when an
| eclipse would take place, and then he
| would give away to abject fear. Dur
ing the almost total solar eclipse of
/ 1899 the growing darkness marked
great uneasiness on his part; as the
| darkness grew he became SO Distress
| ed as to become an object of solicit
tude to the family. Finally the shades
| were drawn down and the electric light
turned on, when he became somewhat
| quieter, although restless.
As regards Polly's ability as a talk
| er, it was remarkable. He not only
| repeated words, phrases and sentences
correctly, but he knew their meaning
| 1t he asked for potato, of which he was
fond, and chop-bone was given to
him he would throw it down with en-
! phasis and continue his demand for the
potato until he got it. He was said
TO be- fluent speaker of Spanish at
the time of his purchase, but as there
was no occasion for his using it he
never demonstrated his ability in that
respect. He had most fluent COM
mand of English, and could speak
French to limited extent, and had
| committed to memory in former years
various Latin expressions, with which
| he occasionally mystified visitors, to
| his evident delight.
A remarkable thing about him was
| his vocalism, and strange as it may
seem, he could render the opening
theme of Isolde's Liebestod from
Tristan and Isolde" He was also a
strong and unwearied whistler. but
only in summer time, when he could be
IN the open air. And the caught the
prevalent street airs quickly and ac-
cufateIy.-NeW York World.