On Tue, 26 Oct 2004, Steve Brust wrote: > >Yes and no. There is a sort-of head-bobbing thing parrots do, but >it isn't laughter. It's more like the dry heaves--that is, >threatening regurgitation. It means, "I love you." If the parrot >actually throws up on you, that means, "I really, *really* love >you." > >I have rarely felt sillier then when I got all choked up because >my bird threw up on me. > There is recent graphic novel trade PB of Finder called "Mystery Date" (by Carla Speed McNeil)(Lightspeed Press), which I just recently read. It depicts an individual of a species called the Laeske. These are large, vaguely reptilian beings, except that they also grow bright feathered plumage during mating season. Anyway, Laeske take great pleasure from running very fast with their young on their back, and then regurgitating for said young. This particular Laeske lives in the city with no young, so he carries a student courtesean (who is the actual protagonist of the tale) instead, and the vomits into a toilet when he's done running. In the notes for the story, the author explains this, and also mentions something about not gripping birds under the wings, because that sensation is linked to being mounted sexually; birds so gripped can form immediate strong pair bonds with the gripper - including getting angry and jealous. I wouldn't know anything about birds myself, though.