Bob was burdened with a debilitating Pittsburgh accent.

Even his parrot, a malevolent African grey named Chaucer, shared this affliction.

Spiney was cursed with an even more insidious character flaw: She was an optimist with a prickly nickname.

Bob and Spiney were not alone in their subterranean suffering.

picture of sydney There was Chaucer, the Pittsburgh parrot, and Sydney, a cocky cockatoo who spent most of his days hatching schemes to escape from his gilded cage to kill Bob and Spiney in their sleep.

Sydney was a conniving cockatoo.