Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1917 — Household Pets [ARTICLE]

Household Pets

Parrots are very long-lived bird;?, some having been known to live more than a century. They are very favorite birds with many people, as they are often extremely beautiful, and can, if reared early to do so, learn to speak more or less welj, and also to warble and imitate the songs of other birds. Naturalists say that if you want a parrot to speak very distinctly you should get one with a thick, rounded tongue. Bird-fanciers say that the very best food tor parrots is the crumb of white bread, well baked without salt, it should be soaked in water, and then a little squeezed in the hand. However excellent this food is, it Is certain that parrots, like human beings thrive better when their jnenu is a little varied, and some students of the subject have noticed that parrots fed the Above-named -food and that alone often get thin and hardly have strength enough to bear moulting. It is clear that feeding them only on this food, which has very little if any moisture in it, is not sufficient to nourish them properly, at least during the. moulting season and while the feathers are growing again. I never saw a parrot in better health -than one which belonged to a lady, who fed it on white bread soaked in boiled milk, having more milk than the bread would absorb, which the parrot drank with apparent pleasure. It was also given fruit when in season. It is necessary to be very careful that the milk is not sour. It- is well to put some water in one division of the tin drawer in the cage, and they should always be encouraged to bathe, as this keeps them in health and facilitates the process of moulting, which is very painful. The two most docile parrots are the ash-colored and the cream Lory. Both these parrots live on all kinds of fruit and grain, and in this country they eat any. of our food, preferring, however, white bread soaked in boiled milk, and fruits. These parrots are fond of meat but that seldom agrees with them. The ash-colored parrot, like the cream Lory, can learn to speak and whistle, as well as to play tricks. As a proof of the talent of this particular species, the following account of -one which, “ being instructed on its voyage by an old sailor, had acquired his harsh, hoarse voice so perfectly that it was often mistaken for him. Though it was afterwards given to a young-person, and no longer heard the voice, it never forgot the lessons of its old master, and it was exceedingly amusing to hear it pass from a soft, pleasing voice to its old hoarse sea tone. This bird not only has a great facility in imitating the voice of a man, but also seems to have a wish to do so, and this wish is shown in its great attention, the efforts it makes to repeat the sounds it hears, and its constant repetition of them, for it incessantly repeats any word it has just learnt, and endeavors to make its voice heard above every other. One is often surprised to hear it say words and make sounds which no one has taught it, and to which it was not even suspected to have listened. It seemed to practice its lesson every day till night, —beginning again on the next morning. It is while young that it shows this great facility ih learning; its memory is then better, and the bird is altogether more intelligent and docile.” Tarrots, like all birds and pets, require care and cleanliness, and those who eannot devote time to seeing - that they are kept in order, had Detter not have them at all.