Naturalist.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 406, 18 February 1904, Page 7

Naturalist.

ABOUT PARROTS. in India, when they rSsfe have nothing particular to do, aOl often amuse themselves by teaching a parrot to talk. This is a work of patience' and perseverance; and it sounds rather droll to say that Polly's schoolroom is a well! The bird learns best in the dark, so he has his lessons at night, op else his master covers him up. An officer told me that he used to pass a dry well which was continually the lodging of some soldier's pet going through a course of training. Polly's perch was lowered into it, and the moutfa of the well covered with a cloth. Then a soldier at intervals would put his head under the cloth, and oall out, 'Tea and toast for pretty Polly!' 'Cake and wine for the ladies,' and other short phrases, repeating them until the captive down below began to pick them up. If a parrot is refractory he is kept without sleep; and this method is also practised in the training of a wild elephant. It takes a week without sleep to reduce the poor rover to submission. Some years a*go, at Norwich, there lived a parrot who used to accompany his mistress when she went for walks. Poll followed her like a dog, with a sort of scuttle that was very funny. A bird of my own acquaintance says—not too politely—'shut up!' while another one makes itself a nuisance to tbe neighbours by screeching for hours together: 'Mother \ mother!! mother, I want ye! 1!' For some weeks we fancied it was screaming ' Murder!' down the road.

Parrots, as we all know, are famous mimics. There was a fine grey one which had evidently once belonged to a sailor, and not a very courageous sailor either. For whenever it blew bard, Polly began to cry in a most distressed tone, < Lord have mercy on Bob Barnard.' Another bird gave itself a good deal of trouble to learn to imitate a scissors-grinder who visited a certain street once a week, At length people began to complain that the grinder was becoming a perfect nuisance; he arrived so often. I recollect reading about a parrot who, if his mistress scolded him, would reply indignantly, ' Not a naughty Poll! Not a bold bad bird 1* stamping his foot the while; 'I am not, lam .not/ ' This Poll was remarkably jealous of children; he could not endure to see them petted or caressed, and would screech angrily, 'Go away, bold girl,' or 'bold boy, as the case might be. He had a distinct sense of humour, for he would mimic a visitor taking off his coat, by pretending to take off his wings, chuckling loudly the while. He played with the cats quite amiably, and when tired of them called the dogs to drive them away. Some boys gave a runaway knock at his master's house, whereupon this intelligent bird shouted, 'Let me catch you doing that again!' and nearly scared them out of their wits. One more story to end up with, A gentleman bought a parrot, but found he could not possibly keep him, for he had belonged to the Smiths, a numerous family, and had all the nursery 'noises' at his tongue's end. Cries, yells, scoldings, shrieks of ' mama, mama,' went on for hours, One day the climax came; the little Smiths had had. the whoopingcough in the autumn, and Poll suddenly remembered this, The housekeeper said she could bear it no longer. 'He's got the voices of all them little Miss and Master Smith's, and ever since Tuesday he's done nothing but cough, cough, whoop, whoop!' she cried. So this talented imitator had to be got rid of j he was too funny to be agreeable.

FBOGS. Frog farming is looked upon by the United States fish commission as one of the coming important industries of the country, remarks the 'Chicago Sunday Tribune.' Already a woman on Long Island has established such a farm and is working upon the problem of problems connected with the industry—how to increase by artificial means the insect life in and around the ponds in order that the frogs may grow to full maturity and flavor. More frogs are eaten in the United States than in any other country in the world; the demand is increasing steadily in all of the large cities, and at the same time the inroads of the frog catcher upon the frog marshes axe telling

j WEon v tb£ v aupply in -parked manner. Tens of thousands of these little creatures are , sold to. fishermen every summer in the department stores of Chicago, averaging laperdozsnat'relail but moat of these are is their infancy, as it were, and too small to be considered as a table acquisi: ion. To the consumers of America it 13 estimated that the cost of this food will reach,at least More f roga are caught in ; the estate ■of ,Nsw York than in any other one geographical division of the United Stateß, bat. ini such of these named hunting grounds as are close to transportation the catches of the last few years liave shown markedly upon the supply. In catching theae creatures many devices are used. Fishing tackle is one of the popular means, the hooks baited with a bit of red flannel, a worm or other insect. Bifles of small calibre, spears, and cross bows are available, the moat effective means being the spear, commoaly having three prongs. In using it two men at night get into a boat, one sculling and the other with the spear standing behind a light, which daisies the victim in the' Water. From Maroh to June is the hunting season, and the price of dressed legs by the pound varies from 6d to 2j. Whilejihe legs are only used in mosb places, tbe entire flesh of the frog is edible and appetising, though of insignificant weight when compared with the legs. The frogs moat commonly eaten are the bull-frog; the green frog, the spring frog, and the westernfrog. Of these varieties the spring, or leopard, frog is the most common. It is found from the Atlantic to the Sierra Nevada mountains and from Cake Athabasca; •in Canada, to Central imerica, being more numerous, howevar, in the eastern states. It has a body length, when sitting, approaching four inches, and the name leopard frog is at once suggestive of its general appearance. Of all the edible frogkind in America it is most widely distributed, it is the moat gregarious, and passes more quickly than any other from the tadpole state. There have been some frog farm ventures in the United States, but they have not proved much to the office of the fish commission. One of the most successful frog farms is in Ontario, in the Trent river basin. It has been in operation about twenty years, and annually yields a comparatively large prod act of frogs; No attempt is made to confine the frogs until near the time for shipment to market. Taey are then taken alive at night with the aid of a torchlight and confined in small pans that can be drained when the frogs are desired for market.