Gary Farber has a post here that is of great interest to me as a bird owner.

Jim Smith sent me an e-mail telling of N'Kisi, the eloquent African Grey with a vocabulary of 900-odd words. Mr. Farber has tracked an umbrella cockatoo owner who takes issue with all the fuss made over N'Kisi. The cockatoo owner's post on birds is informative and on target.

I'm too lazy tonight to excerpt, but if Lucy has intrigued you, follow the links at Gary's post, especially that regarding Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Her work with African Grey, Alex, is amazing.