TALKING BIRDS.
THERE is a marked distinction between the call-notes of birds, which are hereditary and invariable, and the song, which is an accomplishment, the result of effort and practice, even in those kinds which sing when free and wild. Most people who have reared a young thrush or blackbird will have noticed that as soon as the wild birds begin to sing in early spring, the tame bird imitates, and reproduces by degrees, the same notes. The song of our canaries, which in their own country is so poor that they have been said not to sing at all, has been learnt entirely from the goldfinches and linnets which have shared their cages ; though the vocal organs which the canary had but did not use, are so superior to those of its teachers that it has now learnt to outsing them both. Among birds, as well as men, there are non-progressive races which are indifferent to " self-improvement," and never try to learn a song of their own, much less imitate the voices of other birds or of men. But the desire to gain new notes is very much more common than most people imagine, and we believe there are at least twenty kinds which are able to reproduce even the complex forms of articulate human speech. Aristotle mentions an Indian parrot which could talk, and "when it drank wine was somewhat improper" (cizacurT61-Epoii), habits and language which it had picked up, no
doubt, from Phoenician sailors. But the most accomplished talker of Indian birds is the Mynah, a handsome purple- black bird, with a short tail, orange beak and legs, and bright yellow ear-flaps, which run round to the back of its head like a broad collar. It is a bold, lively bird, with a mellow song and whistle of its own. Its power of reproducing human speech is wonderful, and it exhibits the greatest anxiety that the tones shall be correct, repeating them softly to itself with its head on one side, and then shouting out the words. In the insect-house at the Zoo there is a fine old mynah, who was "deposited " in 1883. While a visitor is examining the Indian moths coming out of their cocoons, he may hear behind him a thoughtful cough, and then " Hulloa I" shouted with startling suddenness. It is the mynah, anxious to be friendly, and to begin a conversation. The Hindoo traders in the bazaars avail themselves of the mynah's services in a curious way. They teach it to pronounce the holy name of Rama; and while its master's thoughts are on earthly things intent, the bird compounds for the neglect by shouting incessantly the name of the god, and texts in honour of his power. If the poet Ovid's Indian parrot finds its way, as he hoped, to the paradise of birds, and there, " Convertit volucres in sua verbs pias," it must surely meet the mynahs there also.
Another bird which talks better than most, and whistles better than any, is the Piping Crow. It is a lively black-and- white bird, as large as a" rook, but far more elegant in form. Several specimens inhabit the Zoological Gardens ; but the best is in the western aviary, where he whistles " Merrily danced the Quaker" in tones like a flute.
The American Blue Jay, a most brilliant creature, flushing with hues of emerald and turquoise, is an admirable mimic of many sounds, even of the human voice. Wilson speaks of one " which had all the tricks and loquacity of a parrot ; pilfered all it could conveniently carry off, answered to its name with great sociability when called upon, and could articulate a number of words pretty distinctly." Our English jays can also talk ; and magpies, especially if kept in good health and spirits by being allowed partial freedom, soon pick up words. Jackdaws and the American crow can also be taught to talk. But in all the crow tribe, except the piping crow, the reproduction of human speech seems to be more a trick of mimicry than an effort to acquire a substitute for song. Parrots, mynahs, and some cockatoos take infinite pains to learn correctly and increase their stock of phrases. But the magpie or jay mimics what it finds easy, and takes no further trouble. Even the raven seldom has many words at command, though, owing to its deep, resonant voice and imposing size, it attracts far more attention than a chattering jay. The raven is the largest creature except man that can " talk," and fancy and superstition have naturally exag- gerated its powers. Still, the speech of the raven has a depth and solemnity which that of no other bird obtains, and whether in boding utterances like those attributed to the ravens of " Barnaby Rudge " or Edgar Allen Poe, or in plain business like the raven in the mews in Guildford Street, which used to say, " Ostler, here's a gentleman," when a customer arrived, its powers are generally marked and recorded. We knew a fine bird, belonging to a " statesman " in Northumber- land, that would say, "Poor old Ralph!" or call the collie dog in the exact tones used by its master. But the crow tribe, though as clever as the parrots, are not so easily domesticated, and their beaks and tongues are less well
suited for the musical sounds of human speech. Most of the parrots, and some cockatoos and macaws, have both the mental and physical gifts necessary to make them excel in talking. Parrots of all classes have fleshy tongues, moistened with saliva, and the arched beak provides a substitute for our palate and teeth. They have also wide nostrils, and their natural voices are loud enough and strong enough to equal the volume of human speech. In disposition they are highly imitative. Cockatoos are almost like monkeys in mimicking men. For instance, if you bow to them, they will make elaborate bows. If you put your head on one side, they will often do so too. But with many parrots the desire to learn new sounds is not, we think, a mere trick of mimicry, but the desire to possess a song,—an accomplishment with which to please, identical in kind with the motive which prompts the young of singing-birds to learn their parents' notes, or, in the case of the canary, to learn and improve upon a song, not their own, which they have transmitted to their posterity.
The following account of the development of the talking power in a young parrot of which we have seen much lately, is, we submit, a strong confirmation of this view. Our in- formant is a lady whose sympathies are by no means limited to parrots, as the context will show ; and her observations are wholly reliable :—" We bought ' Barry," she writes, "when he was quite young, before his feathers were fully grown ; and we had him about a year before he began to talk. Then he began to make very odd noises, as if he were trying to say words, but could not quite do it. Now he constantly learns new words and sentences, and early in the morning I hear him practising them over to himself, exactly as our babies used to do in the early morning hours in bed. If he improves as much in the next ten years as he has in the last, he should be able to recite a poem if we teach him." There is no reason why a parrot should not continue to increase his stock of phrases as he grows older, if the supposition that he looks upon it as an accomplishment for which he is in some way the better, is correct. The butcher-bird, for instance, and the sedge-warbler do not rest satisfied with learning their own notes, but often learn and reproduce the notes of other birds in great perfection. The mocking-bird, which, like the sedge-warbler, has a fine song of its own, does the same. But the parrot has an advantage in being very long-lived and constantly in human company. The young parrot mentioned before gave an excellent instance of the association in its mind of words with things. Before it could talk, it was friendly with a kitten which used to enter its cage. This kitten was sent away, and for a year there was not another in the house. Then a grey Persian kitten was bought, and when introduced to the parrot was at once addressed as Kitty,' a word he had hardly heard since the departure of the other. The correctness of parrots' imitation, the result, no doubt, of their careful practice, is remarkable. A lady of the Dutch Court, visiting the palace in the wood at the Hague soon after the death of the late Queen of Holland, was startled by hearing the Queen's voice exactly reproduced. It was a white cockatoo that had been a great pet of hers, which was in a corner of the room.
Parrots have no exclusive liking for the English language. 'They learn German, French, and Dutch quite easily. Another parrot at the Hague went through part of the Lord's Prayer in Dutch at an afternoon party, with other fragments of its mistress's devotions, which it had heard when in her room• All small white and sulphur cockatoos seem to say, " Kiipper crop" when they want their heads scratched. We have translated it, " Scratch a poll ;" but it is probably pure parrot language. Go up to any cockatoo and say this to him, at the same time holding the hand well above his head, and he will probably answer, and gradually lower his head and crest to allow you to gently raffle the feathers the wrong way. Macaws do not seem to understand cockatoo language ; but the grey parrots often use much the same sound. It seems to be a call-note, expressing their willingness to make friends and be petted.
" Is the talking of birds due to mental or physical causes ?" is a question often asked. In the first place, no doubt, it is due to the disposition of the bird. Some parrots and cockatoos never learn to talk, though their organs of speech differ in no way from those of others that do. They seem to be without the imitative bias, like the hawks which have curved beaks and thick tongues, but are equally silent. But where the disposition to mimic is present, physical causes limit or widen the birds' powers. Parrots and the crow tribe are both imi- tative, but the parrots' beaks and tongues are more suited for imitating human speech, just as the raven, with his high- arched beak and big throat excels the jay. Other birds with still less suitable organs, such as the sedge-warbler, though excellent mimics, cannot reproduce human speech at all. There seems no reason why parrots, if they would breed in confinement, should not teach their accomplishments to their young ones as the canaries have done theirs. Perhaps in time the experiment may be made.
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