Animal communication? Violet felt pretty confident that she could communicate with Machiavelli, at least on the receiving end. He was very good at getting his point across, but if he understood Violet (and she was pretty sure he did), he usually ignored her and did as he pleased.

Raising her hand, she said, "Well, my pet magpie will pull on my hair when he wants something or wants to get my attention." And he would get it, because to ignore him was a bit painful.