A PARROT'S FAMILY.

Waikato Argus, Volume XXX, Issue 4730, 15 June 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

A PARROT'S FAMILY.

Tom is the most wonderful parrot in the world ’ owner, Miss Eissner, of Brook street, Bond street, W., has good reason to be proud of him. Miss Eissner has had Tom for over 20 years. He is her constant companion. She takes him with her everywhere -to the theatre, to cinematograph shows, to restaurants, and on journeys to the Continent. Some time ago Miss Eissner possessed a black cat, with which Tom became on very friendly terms. This cat was the mother of kittens, and the parrot used to play with them all day, and learned to mew and purr like a eat. A few weeks ago a strange black cat wandered into Miss Eissner’a house. The other black cat had long since died, but Tom thought it was his old friend again. The newcomer imposed upon the generosity of its home by giving birth to kittens. When Tom saw the new kittens he jumped into the basket beside them. Thun followed a battle between the anxious mother and the parrot. A middle-aged parrot was all very well as a friend for a grown-up cat, hut it was doubtful whether it could be trusted with a precious family. But Tom presevered. He gained the kittens’ affections, and the mother cat, in sheer pique, has now deserted her offspring and left them to the care of the parrot. And so it happens that a family of kittens have as a foster parent a parrot. The bird guards them zealously. It strokes them with its hard beak so softly that it is a gentle caress, and it purs to them and takes them under the shade of its warm feathers, It lifts them gently and carries them about with ease. It scratches their little heads and showers so many kindnesses on them that they do not miss their mother. Recently one of the kittens struggled dangerously near the fire. Tom seized it by the tail, screamed “Mother!” and Miss Eissner arrived in time to see Tom rescue the kitten from the fireplace and caress it with all the love of a mother for its prodigal child.