Parrot can’t sing in divorce case

Nov. 19, 1937: “It would have been a novel experiment, but Superior Judge Brand refused to allow a parrot to testify concerning its knowledge of the domestic affairs of James J. Reynolds, real estate broker, and Mrs. Willetta Reynolds,” The Times reported.

The husband’s attorney, the newspaper said, wanted to put the parrot on the stand “to show that the bird had learned to call Reynolds certain abusive names and that the bird’s teacher could have been none other than Mrs. Reynolds. The judge, however, declared the procedure was a little too irregular in that the parrot probably could not be placed under oath and furthermore probably could not recall who had taught it anything it might have learned.”