The National tribune., 1907-06-13
A language teacher for birds is IL

language teacher for birds is the
vocation OF Miss Bertha Schalavinski. a
Russian. who earns a very good living
for herself and mother by teaching birds
how to talk. When Miss Bertha first
came 10 America she went to work in
4 bird store. and ii was while there
that she first got the idea of adopting
her unusual profession. Her pupils are
generally parrots from Africa. South
America and East India. bat she has
also some crows. AS rule. she teaches
her pupils To speak in two languages,
French and English or English and
Yiddish. Her method is very simple,
and consists of beginning the education
of the bird with a single simple word.
generally hello This she and her
mother keep repeating until the bird
picks it up. when they take two words.
like good morning.. From this they
go to sentences. and from sentences to
songs. it being quite an easy matter to
| teach a bird who has progressed as far
as sentences, a bar or two of a popular
song. AS a general thing. a parrot will
learn French easier than he Will Eng
| liSh, and she has had pupils who were
very good at both French and German
who couldn't or wouldn't le:Irn a word
of English. Crows. she thinks, are real
! ly more intelligent than parrots. but
they arc uncanny and harder to teach,
and the other birds don't seem TO like
them. particularly canaries. who gener-
ally refuse to sing if there is a crow in
sight. The monograph Miss Bertha has
| tried i'll her teaching. but found it un-
satisfactory. as the birds seemed to need
her individual attention. When she
gives music lesson to her feathercd
pupils she arrangeS them on their
perches and places herself before them
with her little tuning fork. Then she
sings very slowly the first line of a song.
to
| After she has been over this few times
some of the birds repeat one word of
the line. others two or more. and some
| of the more frivolous, like unruly chill
dren in class, will yell out something
entirely foreign. usually naughty
swear word, and have to be punished
and stopt by covering the head with
| towel. A popularity of the parrot seems
to be the ease with which he picks up
swear words, and the tenacity with
which he clings to them.
All the girls in the country who have
ever christened United States ships are
about to be formed into an organization
of Naval sponsors. The idea started
with an Alabama and Massachusetts,
girl, and these young ladies have taken
steps to ascertain the names of all their
equally fortunate sisters, who, attircd in
their best clothes. and surrounded by an
admiring crowd. have played the prin-
cipal part in the pretty ceremony which
christens our beautiful ships
Mrs. Ayrcs. proud scion of Lord Fair
fax of Virginia, and incidentally wife
of Lieut.-Col. Charles G. Ayrcs. 18th u.
S. Cav. has been politely but firmly
told she must pack up and leave the
West Point reservation. Mrs. Ayrcs is
n woman of great spirit, as BELTS her
distinguished ancestry. and in consc-
nf i'm ttl of
that spirit she now enjoys the distinc-
ton of heinS the only one of her sex
ever investigated by the War Depart
ment. Mrs. Ayrcs, it will be remcm-
bered. is the irate lady who crOst
swords with Lieut.-Col. Robert l..
Howe. Com mandant of Cadets at the
West Point Military Academy, over the
celebrated "overcoat incident Her
young daughter WAS one OF the girls
subjected to the embarrassment of be-
ing Obliged to remove one of the loaned
cadet overcoats. Mrs. Ayres, soon after