"He can talk" I reply, as Robbie and Olivia both cock their heads to one side and appear to listen, "although he doesn't really understand the words, of course. He learned to do the count in the wrestling pit, but would sometimes get the numbers in the wrong order. On of the wrestlers, Stacy, thought he was biased against her, when he would start the count again at 'one' when she had a n opponent down, and was favouring someone who had bribed him with nuts and crackers."<br/><br/>The cockatoo looks on, inscrutably.