Susceptibility of Parrots to Teaching - Taming by Force - Aptitude for Taming and Teaching - Conditions to be Observed - Signs of a Talented Bird - Practical Directions for Training - Differences of Capability in Different Parrots - Mental Endowments of the Parrot - Understands the Application of Words.

The predilection and capability of parrots for imitation are not limited to human words, but extend to all sorts of other sounds. With such gifts a bird may be extremely valuable, but it may also become just as unbearable and worthless. It gives the owner pleasure when the parrot learns to pronounce or even sing words, to pipe or whistle airs; indeed, the songs of other birds are often repeated more or less faithfully; but how unpleasant is it when it imitates the screaming cries of all the other birds which it hears, repeats all sorts of shrill sounds, such as the crowing of cocks, the barking of dogs, the creaking of doors, the whistling of steam engines, the crying of children, etc.! It must, therefore, be the task of the trainer to divert its attention from all disagreeable, and to accustom it to pleasant sounds.

Although the love of parrots in all their varieties is surprisingly active and wide-spread, yet it would assuredly be much more extensive if many real or supposed drawbacks did not present themselves. Many people have a dislike to parrots on account of their "amphibious-like climbing"; "their deceit, cunning, and ill-temper"; "their dreadful noise"; in short, on account of many disagreeable habits; but, according to my firm conviction, founded on years of experience and exact observation, all such complaints rest solely on prejudice, ignorance, or on the fault of the owner. The case is yet worse if, as Mr. Dulitz says, the parrot keeper happens not to be a lover of birds. The beautiful bird, in its pretty cage, serves only as an ornament to the room. The talent of learning to pronounce words at first gives pleasure, but after the charm of novelty has worn off the bird only serves to amuse visiting friends and acquaintances. It becomes more and more indifferent or wearisome to its owner; its care is left to the servants, and its fate becomes joyless and pitiable, indeed it soon grows hateful to its owner. Almost every parrot, particularly if highly gifted and lively, wishes to love and to be loved - a fact which the amateur should never forget. Whoever cannot fulfil this chief condition of the parrot's well-being does very wrong in buying such a bird. All mistakes in training, instead of producing the good results which training ought, go. on the contrary, to bring out objectionable qualities. A grave truth is contained in the saying that " He who is not himself well instructed should not presume to instruct others" - be it man or animal. Nevertheless the training of our most favoured friends in the animal world, of our most intimate companions among domestic animals, is, as a rule, left in the hands of rough people, often not even good tempered, and generally incapable of doing their work well.

Thus we see domestic animals spoilt - dogs, good tempered and obedient by nature, changed into wicked biting curs; cats, deceitful and treacherous; parrots, stupid, ill-tempered, and insufferable screamers. This is the more to be regretted because a well-trained animal of any kind is undoubtedly an estimable companion to man, capable of being to him, under certain circumstances, a friend in the fullest sense of the word. I will, therefore, endeavour to give directions how to obtain this most desirable result.

Up to the present, experience has given us no tokens by which we may know at once with certainty whether a bird is more or less talented. Of course, the eye of a connoisseur may to some extent judge whether a parrot will turn out well, and prove gifted, easily tamed, and teachable; cheerfulness, quickness, a bright shining eye, attention to all that is going on etc, show the probability that we have "a good bird' before us; but we cannot be quite certain of it, because there are many examples extant in which these signs have proved deceptive, and the parrot has been stubborn and stupid; whereas another, which sat dull at first, has afterwards developed into an excellent speaker. Difference of sex may in this respect be regarded as unimportant, and, in spite of many opinions to the contrary, makes no difference in talent; certainly, up to the present, nothing is known in support of such opinions as regards most of the large kinds. It is probably very generally known that the larger parrots live to a great age; in a state of freedom probably all, with the exception of those which fall a victim to accident, and in captivity all those which enjoy suitable treatment. Naturally, the older a bird when caught, the more difficult it is to acclimatise and train, and the first thing to remember, in buying a bird which one wishes to teach to speak, is that the younger it is when purchased, the more amenable it is to teaching. Yet many cases are known in which the so-called "old screamers," that have little value in the trade, have become excellent speakers, though, of course, only after they have been years in captivity. As an example I may mention the Grey Parrot belonging to Mr. Neubauer, principal of the Grammar School at Rawitsch, which, when nearly twenty years of age, after being in his possession three years, began to speak, and learnt more than two hundred words, in three languages - German, Polish, and French. Every teachable and easily tamed parrot becomes naturally more and more docile as it becomes more accustomed to its abode, and the more it learns the less frequently is the disagreeable cry heard.

Dealers in a small way of business tame parrots, as a rule, by force, in a similar manner to the Indian women. Equipped with strong doeskin gloves, the man seizes the bird by the legs, pulls it out of the cage, without heeding its screeching and biting, holds it firmly on the forefinger of the left hand, and strokes it with the right until it yields to its fate and becomes tame and quiet. For this courage is before all things necessary, besides skill, perseverance, patience, and indifference to the great pain which, in spite of the gloves, the bites of the bird cause. The pincer-like form of the parrot's beak produces, when it bites hard, bruises and bleeding wounds, which are very painful and difficult to heal. Great precaution must be taken against treacherous biting. It has been noticed that, as a rule, the small parrots bite much more frequently and more viciously than the large, for the latter really only bite when they are much enraged, but then, of course, very dangerously. In order to break them off the habit of biting they should be struck with the forefinger on the beak whenever they attempt it. I may here remark that almost all parrots, especially the larger species, are dangerous to other cage birds near them, or which may perhaps fly round the room in which they are.