roadway fluttered, gossiping, up on to the fences, highly
scandalized to see a gray and scarlet parrot skimming down an
English lane.

On she came, straight on to the Doctor's shoulder, where she
immediately began talking a steady stream in a language I could
not understand. She seemed to have a terrible lot to say. And
very soon the Doctor had forgotten all about me and my squirrel
and Jip and everything else; till at length the bird clearly
asked him something about me.

"Oh excuse me, Stubbins!" said the Doctor. "I was so interested
listening to my old friend here. We must get on and see this
squirrel of yours--Polynesia, this is Thomas Stubbins."

The parrot, on the Doctor's shoulder, nodded gravely towards me
and then, to my great surprise, said quite plainly in English,

"How do you do? I remember the night you were born. It was a
terribly cold winter. You were a very ugly baby."

"Stubbins is anxious to learn animal language," said the Doctor.
"I was just telling him about you and the lessons you gave me
when Jip ran up and told us you had arrived."

"Well," said the parrot, turning to me, "I may have started the
Doctor learning but I never could have done even that, if he
hadn't first taught me to understand what I was saying when I
spoke English. You see, many parrots can talk like a person, but
very few of them understand what they are saying. They just say