Chapman entered the room bearing a cage
in which perched a parrot. He knew his entrance would cause something
of a stir as his friend Keats was fascinated by all things
psittacine.
Keats leapt from his chair and
scrutinised the bird.
“I imagine you can identify the
species” said Chapman.
“Judging by its cinereous plumage I
would say it's an example of Psittacus erithacus”
“Is it really?”
muttered Chapman, previously unaware of its Linnaean name, “and
from where exactly does it hail?”
“Well,”
began Keats, “it used to be distributed throughout the Congo and
adjacent countries, but so many have been trapped for the pet trade that there are few left in the wild and their range is difficult to
define”
“I see, so it's something of an
African Grey area...” proffered Chapman, unhelpfully.
