Dead Parrot sketch of "Death in Paradise". A joke dated AD 400, recently translated from Greek, shows similarities to the Parrot sketch. It was written by Hierocles and Philagrius and was included in a compilation of 265 jokes titled "Philogelos: The Laugh Addict". In the Greek version, a man complains to a slave-merchant that his new slave has died. The slave-merchant replies, "When he was with me, he never did any such thing!" In Mark Twain's humorous short story "A Nevada Funeral", two characters use a series of euphemisms for death including 'kicked the bucket' and 'departed to that mysterious country from whose
Superb parrot Superb parrot The superb parrot ("Polytelis swainsonii"), also known as Barraband's parrot, Barraband's parakeet, or green leek parrot, is a parrot native to south-eastern Australia. It is a dimorphic species and one of three species in the genus "Polytelis". The superb parrot is mostly bright green with darker flight feathers and is about long with a long pointed tail. Adult males have continuous yellow foreheads and throats, with a red horizontal band across the border of the throat. First described by French naturalist Desmarest in 1826, the superb parrot, a dimorphic species, is one of three species in the genus