 The common starling 's gift for mimicry has long been recognised . In the medieval Welsh <unk> , <unk> <unk> a common starling , " taught it words " , and sent it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brothers , <unk> and <unk> , who then sailed from Wales to Ireland to rescue her . Pliny the Elder claimed that these birds could be taught to speak whole sentences in Latin and Greek , and in Henry IV , William Shakespeare had Hotspur declare " The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer . But I will find him when he is asleep , and in his ear I 'll <unk> ' Mortimer ! ' <unk> I 'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer , and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion . " 
