Psittakou

Ὅτι κατὰ θάλασσαν πολλὰ παθὼν ὁ συγγραφεὺς μόλις διασῴζεται. ἐν ᾧ καὶ περὶ ἀστέρος τινὸς τερατολογεῖ ἐπιβρίσαντος τῷ ἱστίῳ τοῦ πλοίου μέλλειν αὐτοὺς βυθίζεσθαι. οὐρανίαν δὲ τὸ φανὲν παρὰ τῶν ναυτῶν καλεῖσθαι. λέγει δὲ περὶ ψιττακοῦ, ᾧ εἴκοσιν ἔτεσι συνδιῆγεν, ὡς σχεδόν τι οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπῳ πραττομένων ἀμίμητον κατελίμπανεν· ὠρχεῖτό τε γὰρ καὶ ᾖδε καὶ ἐκάλει ἐξ ὀνόματος καὶ τἄλλα ἔπραττεν.
(Olympiodorus, fr. 35.1)

At sea the historian suffered much and hardly survived. In his account he tells a marellous story about a star which fell down upon the mast of the ship and they were in dange rof sinking. The sailors call this phenomenon Urania. He also speaks of a parrot which he had for twenty years. He says there was hardly any human action which it could not imitate. It could dance, sing, call out names, and do other things. (tr. Roger C. Blockley)