Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!husc6!rutgers!att!ihlpf!bamford
From: bamford@ihlpf.ATT.COM (Harold E. Bamford)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: More on Hookbills
Message-ID: <6418@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Date: 14 Oct 88 19:20:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: ihlpf.6418
Reply-To: bamford@ihlpf.UUCP (Harold E. Bamford)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 30


OK, I'll bite!  I had (note past tense) an adult, wild caught African
Grey Congo.  Extremely even tempered: he hated everybody.  He would howl
loudly for upwards of 1/2 hour when somebody approached him.  He would
bite if a hand was put in his cage.  Etc, etc.  Then I sold him to a
breeder with experience with wild birds and bought a BABY African Grey
Congo.

What a difference!  This baby bird is very friendly.  He likes to sit on
my shoulder and purr.  Just like a cat.  He crawls all over me (or
anybody that gives him some cheese) and plays with my hair and ears.  He
chirps, and cheeps.  When very excited, he grunts as though he could
hardly stand the excitement.  Hilarious sound.  He also has a gurgling
series of chirps that sounds exactly like "Cousin Itt" from the TV show,
"The Addams Family".

Merlin also is very much the omnivore -- no wimpy vegetarian diet for
him! (Please, no flames from vegetarians).  He devours:

	Beef
	Lamb
	Chicken
	Scallops
	Shrimp

He also "inhales" cheese, rice, bread, carrot, grapes, broccoli,
radishes, cucumbers, those long green hot peppers, safflower seeds,
etc.   But he WON'T eat Parrot Pellets.

OK, let's hear about YOUR parrot.