The scarlet macaw who lives with [[Swale, Thomas B. | Tom Swale]] and [[Romeo, Carl | Carl Romeo.]] Picchu is the YW books' earliest example of the principle that "wizards' pets can get strange". (Until the series is sveeral books along, no one fully realizes quite ''how'' strange.) She functions as an [[Oracular sentients | oracular]], frequently predicting the next day's news while imitating the voice and style of a network anchorman {from the dialogue excerpts in [[SYWTBAW]], especially the signature line "And that's the way it is...", the voice would seem to be that of the eminent US radio and television broadcaster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite Walter Cronkite]). Picchu is fluent in both English and the Speech, and apparently various other languages as well. She occasionally accompanies wizards on errantry for reasons of her own, and is always a source of good (if occasionally obscure) advice. Picchu has something of a temper, and sometimes has to be threatened with physical violence to get her to stop being violent herself: [[Callahan, Juanita L. | Nita]] comments on occasion that Picchu has bitten her more than once. When not in her cage, Peach more or less runs amok around Tom and Carl's house doing whatever she pleases. For example, during [[DW]] she apparently gets up onto the stove and eats all or part of an omelet Carl has been making, provoking shouts of "You little cannibal!" Picchu is last seen in [[HW]] during her involvement with Nita's and [[Rodriguez, Christopher K. | Kit's]] pursuit of [[Callahan, Dairine | Dairine]]. ([[SYWTBAW]], [[DW]], [[HW]], ''et al.'') (See also: [[Avatar | Avatars]], [[Powers That Be | Powers that Be]].)