News from Miss Prissy

Hello, my new friends! Thank you so much for all your friendly words. I'm still not sure what happened to J. L., but it makes me feel a little better to know that all of you are missing him as well.

I have been looking all over the cage for him, and I even checked his favorite hiding spots behind the cage and on the Tall One's desk. I chirped for him, and I even screamed the way he usually does when I fly around and land somewhere out of his sight. He did not answer.

The Tall One said he went to a better place, but I can't imagine a better place anywhere than with her. She is very smart, though, so it has to be true. She says we'll all go there someday, so we'll see J.L. again. It's very confusing, but she says everything will be okay.

I never realized how big the cage was until I was all by myself. I grew up in a house full of dozens of cockatiels, and I had to share my cage with many of them. I was glad when the Tall One and the Cool One came and got me out of there.

When I first got to the apartment, I was surprised that there was only one tiel with a big cage. He seemed surprised, too. He acted like he had never seen another cockatiel before, and maybe he hadn't. I liked him right away, because I thought he was funny. He tried to impress me with his good voice and pretty feathers, but he could not even find the way back into his own cage. That's how excited he was to meet me.

He didn't really know much about being a cockatiel; for example, I had to teach him how to gently preen each other, and he had never left the cage much until I went exploring with him. Until I showed him how much fun it can be to stroll along the bottom of the cage or the floor, he had only stayed on perches or on top of the cage. He also tried new foods, like fruits, vegetables, pizza, and pasta once he saw me eating it. He was great fun to be around. We did everything together: eating food, preening each other, playing with the Tall One, fluttering about the apartment, shredding the Tall One's papers, and even taking turns sitting on the eggs. I miss him a lot!

I think the Tall One noticed that right away. She hasn't been much fun either, since J.L. left. She has been sitting on the couch a lot, making strange noises, and water has been coming from her eyes. She was really worried about me and picked me up a lot to spend time with me. I love the Tall One, but being around a human is not the same as being around another tiel.

Yesterday, she and the Cool One left me for a while. I was not happy, because I'd never been all alone before in my life. They came back soon though, with the little cage that they brought me home in long ago. There was a bird in the cage! The Cool One took him out and put him on my porch. I looked at him very closely, from all angles. He had pretty grey and white wing feathers like J.L, but a white and grey head with orange spots and a light golden crest, like the cockatoos in the pictures the Tall One brought from Australia. His tail feathers were not grey like J.L.'s, but yellow like like mine, but without the sprinkles. Definitely a cockatiel!

I liked his crest feathers and tried to pull one out, but he did not like that and screeched at me. He really liked my food dish, though; he ate most of the birdseed in it and kept sitting on it like I usually do. I didn't get upset, though. I just ate the honey treat and the millet spray the Tall One put out for us. He's still keeping his distance from me, but we slept on the same perch last night. I think he is trying to impress me, though. He sings quite nicely, and he has been preening his feathers. Of course, that won't impress me. J.L. was the best singer around, and he was also stunningly handsome, with his shiny gray feathers and bright colors on his head.

I'm still looking for J.L., and I miss him terribly. It's nice to have another bird in the cage, though. I'm glad he moved in right away, because I was getting very upset about being all alone. I'm not that sad anymore, and I think the Tall One is feeling a little better after the new bird woke both of us up at 5:30 in the morning with his pretty singing. I think we will all get along just fine.