JANUARY 6: The Pink Cockatoo
“On the morning of the birthday of a little girl named Natalie,” said daddy, “a pink cockatoo was ready to greet her when she awoke. Well, you can imagine how happy Natalie was. And she kept saying over and over again:
“‘Oh, how lovely you are.’ The cockatoo would raise up his pink crest on the top of his head at that—just as some people raise up their foreheads—only his crest went way, way higher. He did that whenever he felt like it, and he always felt like it when he was being talked to.
“And after a very short time the cockatoo was just as tame as could be and he seemed to grow more beautiful every day.
“Before long he began to talk just as a parrot will and follow Natalie around the house. He had his food out of special little pink dishes Natalie had given him to match his pink feathers, and every morning he took his bath in a pink soup bowl which he thought was very fine indeed.
“Maybe you will think he got spoiled by so much fussing and attention, but he just became tamer and tamer every day. He learned many tricks and would often perform them for Natalie’s friends.
“And when it came time for Natalie’s next birthday she gave a party. On the invitation it said the party was being given by Natalie and the pink cockatoo. And in one corner was a little colored drawing Natalie had made of her cockatoo. When the cockatoo saw it he put his crest way up in the air, and said in a funny voice:
“‘Goodie, Natalie,’ which was his pet name for his Mistress.
“And this is a truly true story, you know.”