TRAINING PARROTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19008, 8 May 1924, Page 8

TRAINING PARROTS

Parrots can be more obstinate than mules, but if you are a determined instructor and not easily discouraged, excellent results will follow (points out the Daily Express writer). Remember that the best talker is not the one with the gayest plumage, but the grey parrot found principally on the west coast of Africa. If the parrot is to become a talker he will, in the first three or four days, begin to make confused and indistinct efforts to copy your remark. Whenever he does this reward him with a taste of his favourite delicacy, as this will induce further efforts. In a few weeks the parrot should be able to exclaim ‘ 1 Good-day! 11 or repeat any remark you have taught him whenever he secs any one enter or leave. Other appropriate phrases can be taught in the same manner, such as the useful remark “Time to be going,” by uttering the phrase as you look at your watch. It is always wise to teach each sentence separately, never starting a new one until the previous one has been mastered. In three or four months your parrot should be a speaker of some pretensions. If. however, at the end of this time he has shown no sign of profiting by your lessons, be assured he never will. The most to expect is that he may one day make a good whistler.