Dead Parrot sketch Dead Parrot sketch The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a sketch from "Monty Python's Flying Circus". It was written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman and initially performed in the show's first series, in the eighth episode ("Full Frontal Nudity", which first aired 7 December 1969). The sketch portrays a conflict between disgruntled customer Mr Praline (played by Cleese) and a shopkeeper (Michael Palin), who argue whether or not a recently purchased "Norwegian Blue" parrot is dead. It pokes fun at the many euphemisms for death used in British
Rodrigues parrot and proportionally its head was the largest of any Mascarene species of parrot. The skeleton of the Rodrigues parrot had similarities with the "Tanygnathus" and "Psittacula" parrot genera. The pectoral and pelvic bones were similar in size to those of the New Zealand kaka ("Nestor meridionalis"), and it may have looked similar to the great-billed parrot ("Tanygnathus megalorynchos") in life, but with a larger head and tail. It differed from other Mascarene parrots in several skeletal features, including having nostrils that faced upwards instead of forwards. No features of the skull suggest it had a crest like the broad-billed parrot,