M r. Faigelbaum was away — in the African jungle no less! He’d gone to get another parrot. Tuki had turned out to be such a hit with all the kids that Eli the animal trainer figured it made sense to buy another of the colorful exotic birds. And he could think of no one better to send on such an important mission than the experienced bird specialist Mr F. F. Faigelbaum. Mr. Faigelbaum was due to return that very afternoon. His first stop was going to be at Eli’s place to drop off the new parrot and then he would head home where Mrs. Faigelbaum and Efraim eagerly awaited his return.

Eli heard the sound of a car turning into the driveway and hurried out. There was Mr. Faigelbaum looking rather worn out from all his travels holding aloft a cage with a medium-sized parrot inside.

The two men greeted each other heartily and then Mr. Faigelbaum handed over the cage carefully to Eli before wending his weary way home.

Tuki perched on Eli’s shoulder scrutinized the new arrival suspiciously. He was none too pleased at these new developments. Tuki considered himself the unrivalled star of the show at Eli’s establishment and had no desire to share the limelight with a competitor. He flapped his wings irritably.

“Haman!” he screeched at the new bird his standard term for anyone he disliked. “Bang-bang-bang!”

But the new parrot instead of screeching back just sat there listlessly. Tuki turned up the volume.

“Bang-Bang-Bang!” he screeched even louder.

The new parrot’s head merely drooped miserably.

“Oh dear” said Eli worriedly. “I don’t like the look of this guy. I hope he’s all right. I wish Mr. Faigelbaum hadn’t rushed off so quickly; it looks like we need him again to check this fellow out. I’m going to call him up right away.”