A HUNTER’S PARROT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4211, 18 September 1874, Page 3

A HUNTER’S PARROT.

A correspondent of the Little Bock (Ark.) Gazelle sends that paper the following account of a common poll parrot, which, it is claimed, has not only been trained tp bunt, but which has learned to take a great delight iu the chase. The owner and trainer of this hunting parrot is a boatman, who formerly plied between Little Bock and New Orleans, but who some years since gave up the business of boating aud has since led the life of a hunter, living in a snug cabin at the junction of Big Maramellc Creek with the Arkansas Kiver. The hunter hermit, whose name is Nathan Lask, brought with him from is ow Orleans, on maxing lus last trip to (that city, a line young; parrot, to which ho 'soon became more attached than auy other tiling on earth. Seated upon his shoulder?, the parrot attended him iu all his walks. To.train the bird and talk to it was almost his solo occupation. With the careful training of so loving a master, added to its great natural talent for imitating all manner of cries of lords and animals, the bird has become a marvel of cunning aud a great wonder in its way. Taken into the hills bordering Big Mammelle Creel:, aud the signal being given at intervals, it utters the cry of the turkey so perfectly' as to deceive the oldest and most acute gobbler that over strutted. On being answered by a gobbler, the .parrot proceeds to lure him to death in the most fiendishly coquettish maimer imaginable. Seated on his master’s shoulders, charily aud coyly the parrot replies. Once ho has fully at-, tracted the attention of the vain and anxious gobbler, often allowing him to call in a fretful tuiio twice or thrice before deigning to answer, ho then, in a few low and tender notes, lures the proud bird of the forest within range of the hunter's deadly i;Ule, Seeing the turkey struggling iu the agonies of death fills the parrot with the most fiendish delight, to which he gives utterance in a succession of blood-chilling “ha has,” in all maimer of diabolical tones and keys. Should the hunter miss his aim, however, the parrot ruffles his feathers, croaks and scolds, pulls his master’s hair, and loug refuses to ho pacified. Duck-hunting iu Forche aud Meto Bayous is, however, the parrot’s chief delight. Seated in the how of his master’s boat, snugly ensconced in a patch of tall hullrushes, the parrot .bursts forth into such a “ quack, aud general duck gabble that there seems to be in the vicinity a whole flock of these birds,' all enjoying themselves immensely. . Tims ' aye many passing flocks of ducks hu’efl within range of the gun of the hunter. Qetoo are in the same way called up by the parrot; also many other wild fowl and even deer, as the bird imitates the plaintive bleating of a fawn or a doe to a nicety. No money would buy the bird, and Nat. Lask, seen atrolliug through the woods, gun iu hand, and with his almost inseparable companion seated on his left shoulder, seems a second Kohinson Crusoe. Although so perfect iu his imitations of all manner of birds aud animals, the parrot is not a great talker ; indeed, his vocabulary is limited to a few words, and one or two short phrases. Ho will sometimes sing out: “ Nat, you lubber,” and when Dan Lanagau (a brother boatman of Nat’s, living at the head of Bayou Forche, and almost his only visitor), in his dug-out, is seen paddling in toward the mouth of Big Mammelle Creek, the parrot—whose name we forgot to say, is Bobby—will shout, “Lanagau,' ahoy! Lanagau, ahoy!” The moment Bobby sees his master take down his gun, lie is in a groat flutter. He cooks his head on oner side, his great red eyes sparkling with delight, aud in a low, inquiring tone, says; “ Turkey, turkey?” “No, Bobby,” Nat will perhaps say, “not turkey to-day.” Bobby cocks his head the other way, aud softly says : “ Quack, quack, quack?” “Yes, Bobby,” says Nat, “quack, quack!" Bobby then hursts in a loud “ha, ha, ha!” aud cries : “Nat, you lubber, quack, quack, quack!” Then lie “ha, ha’s ” till the whole cabin lings again. ,