Kip was bought for eighteen dollars as company for a boy who was off school for a term, and stayed for twelve years, which is a long time for a budgie and considerably longer than anybody expected.
He learned eleven words. He said "hello Kip" constantly, to himself, in the voice of a nine-year-old boy who is now twenty-one. He said "kettle's on" whenever the kettle went on, which was the only one he ever got right, and he said the rest at four in the morning in no particular order.
He liked millet, the top of the curtain rail, and sitting on the rim of a mug. He did not like the vacuum, hats, or being looked at directly. He would land on your head if you stood still long enough, which visitors found less delightful than we did.
The house is very quiet now. You do not realise how much noise a small bird makes until it stops. We keep catching ourselves listening for him when the kettle goes on.