ve woods." Here Herbert ran off for his book
on natural history; and while he was gone, Polly entertained Charley as
well as she could till Herbert's return. Polly admired the picture very
much; but said, though his plumage was very fine, no doubt, she did not
like the expression of his face--though she dared say it was not a good
likeness. She said this out of civility, but all the time she thought
the "Great Mogul" a most unlovable-looking bird, and she was very glad
to find herself a gray parrot instead.

"And now, Polly, since I have shown you the picture," said Herbert,
"tell us about greedy Dick."

"It is a sad story, Master Herbert," said Polly, shaking her head and
moving about her perch very slowly. "Oh dear!--oh dear!" she continued
in English; "I'm really quite--oh fie! fie!" Then in her own language
she went on to say: "Dick came to stay with a lady I had the pleasure of
residing with, after I left my old friend who had the maid. I was really
a fine-looking bird at that time;" and here Polly flounced out her
feathers coquettishly, as if she were still a young bird. "I did like
living there; no servants ever were allowed to wait upon me, for the
young ladies of the house were so fond of me they fed me with their own
fair hands. Dick was their nephew, and a nice-looking boy,--clever,
too,--very; but he had one bad habit that grieved his aunts very much.
At all his meals he would keep stuffing and stuffing himself, just like
a little pig feeding for market. He always chose the daintiest dishes,
and would look so ill-natured if any of his aunts happened to say, 'Why,
Dick, you will die of apoplexy; you have been helped to that pudding
three times.'

"He never knew when to stop, and oh dear! though he was a good-looking
boy enough, how ugly he did look when he was eating! His Aunt Mary, and
my favourite mistress, used to say so often, 'Greedy Dick,' that I very
soon picked up the words; and when I saw him slipping into the press to
steal the sugar, I would call out--'Oh fie! fie!--who stole the sugar?'
His aunts used to tell him that even a bird had more sense, and used to
beg him to take an example from me; for I did not gobble up everything
I got at once, but put it in my tin dish till I was hungry. Ah! Master
Dick knew that very well indeed; and many a time had he slipped up and
stolen my piece of sweet-cake, or other dainty.

"One day his Aunt Mary came to my perch and said, 'Come now, Polly; you
shall ha