Rochefeuille, Monsieur de Houppeville and the new habitués,
Onfroy, the chemist, Monsieur Varin and Captain Mathieu, dropped
in for their game of cards, he struck the window-panes with his
wings and made such a racket that it was impossible to talk.

Bourais' face must have appeared very funny to Loulou. As soon as
he saw him he would begin to roar. His voice re-echoed in the yard,
and the neighbours would come to the windows and begin to laugh,
too; and in order that the parrot might not see him, Monsieur
Bourais edged along the wall, pushed his hat over his eyes to hide
his profile, and entered by the garden door, and the looks he gave
the bird lacked affection. Loulou, having thrust his head into the
butcher-boy's basket, received a slap, and from that time he
always tried to nip his enemy. Fabu threatened to wring his neck,
although he was not cruelly inclined, notwithstanding his big
whiskers and tattooings. On the contrary, he rather liked the bird
and, out of deviltry, tried to teach him oaths. Félicité, whom his
manner alarmed, put Loulou in the kitchen, took off his chain and
let him walk all over the house.

When he went downstairs, he rested his beak on the steps, lifted
his right foot and then his left one; but his mistress feared that
such feats would give him vertigo. He became ill and was unable to
eat. There was a small growth under his tongue like those chickens
are sometimes afflicted with. Félicité pulled it off with her
nails and cured him. One day, Paul was imprudent enough to blow
the smoke of his cigar in his face; another time, Madame Lormeau
was teasing him with the tip of her umbrella and he swallowed the
tip. Finally he got lost.