Story: Man And Faun A long time ago a Man met a Faun in the forest and succeeded in making friends with him. The two soon became the best of comrades, living together in the Man's hut. But one cold winter evening, as they were walking homeward, the Faun saw the Man blow on his fingers. “Why do you do that?“ asked the Faun. “To warm my hands,“ the Man replied. When they reached home the Man prepared two bowls of porridge. These he placed steaming hot on the table, and the comrades sat down very cheerfully to enjoy the meal. But much to the Faun's surprise, the Man began to blow into his bowl of porridge. “Why do you do that?“ he asked. “To cool my porridge,“ replied the Man. The Faun sprang quickly to his feet and made for the door. “Goodbye,“ he said, “I've seen enough. A fellow that blows hot and cold in the same breath can not be friends with me!“ The man who talks for both sides is not to be trusted by either.
The Mascarene parrot was 35 cm (14 in) in length with a large red bill and long, rounded tail feathers. Its legs were red, and it had naked red skin around the eyes and nostrils. It had a black facial mask and partially white tail feathers, but the colouration of the body, wings and head is unclear. Descriptions from life indicate the body and head were ash grey, and the white part of the tail had two dark central feathers. In contrast, descriptions based on stuffed specimens state that the body was brown and the head bluish but do not mention the dark central tail feathers. This may be due to the specimens having changed colour as a result of aging and exposure to light, as well as other forms of damage. Very little is known about the bird in life. The Mascarene parrot was first mentioned in 1674, and live specimens were later brought to Europe, where they lived in captivity . The species was scientifically described in 1771. Only two stuffed specimens exist today, in Paris and Vienn...
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