So much has been written concerning the intelligence of the parrot, and so much has been said concerning its imitative power of speech, that I must say somewhat on this head. I have received from Miss Mildred Sturge, of Clifton, an interesting account of an African West Coast parrot which was possessed by Miss Tregelles, of Falmouth. This parrot used the phrases it had learnt appropriately in time and place. "At dinner, when he saw the vegetable-dishes, he generally said, 'Polly wants potato;' at tea he would say, 'Polly wants cake,' or 'Polly's sop,' or 'Polly's toast.' Our grandmother's house was not far from the station, and almost before people could hear it, Polly would announce, 'Grandmamma, the train is coming,' and presently the train would quietly go by. Besides repeating much poetry, Polly made new editions by putting lines together from different authors; but the remarkable thing was that he always got the right rhyme. One of his favourite mixtures was, 'Sing a song of sixpence' and 'I love little pussy.' One day my mother overheard-- "'Four and twenty blackbirds, When they die, Go to that world above, Baked in a pie.'" Now, we must not underrate nor overrate the evidence afforded by parrot-talk. The rhyme-association is interesting; but since we cannot suppose that the poetry is more to the parrot than a linked series of sounds, there does not seem much evidence of intelligence here, though the evidence of memory is important. The correct association of words and phrases with appropriate objects and actions is of great interest. But the fact that they are words and phrases does not give them a higher value than that of imitative actions in the dog or other animal. What parrot-talk does give us evidence of is (1) remarkable powers of memory; (2) an almost unique power of articulation; (3) a great faculty of imitation; (4) and some intelligence in the association of certain linked sounds which we call phrases with certain objects or actions. The teaching of phrases to the parrot is certainly not more remarkable than the teaching of clever tricks to many birds. But the fact that word-sounds are articulated throws a glamour over these special tricks, and leads some people to speak of the parrot's using language, instead of saying that the parrot can imitate some of the sounds made by man, and can associate these sounds with certain objects. * * * * *