[Marilyn]

Your cockateils are so pretty. We had one once, and really enjoyed her. We did have a problem with the feather dust, and it yelled when my hubby was trying to watch TV. She wanted all the attention. We started putting her outside on the porch in the evenings once in a while, our climate is mild enough that it was alright. One night I forgot to bring her back in, and something attacked her during the night an tore one of her wings. We took her to the vet, and he patched her up, but she died later that day. I felt sooo bad. I love birds, but they are so messy I don't think we'll have another one. Our girls were small, so her name was Baby.

One time, Baby flew out the door, circled the house and was gone. We clipped her feathers but they had grown out more than I realized. I put an ad in the paper and a family a few blocks away had birds and found Baby. They made us describe her before we could even come and see if it was her. She flew right to us when we got there so they know she was ours.

She crushed one of my earrings once. Their beaks are sooo strong. Incredible creatures. I really like them a lot except for the mess.