We have a Reuge whistling and animated bird cage with two birds that
turn, move their beaks (lips !) and flap their wings in time to the
whistling.  I am also currently reading a book about Walt Disney and
his miniature live steam railroad and its role as a predecessor to the
first Disneyland.

Walt apparently collected toys and novelties and came on one of these
whistling bird cages.  He had his engineers take it apart to see what
makes it "tick" (or whistle in this case) and this became the start of
what later was called "audio-animatronics", the automation system used
on virtually all Disney attractions.  How about that ?

Bob Conant
Endicott, NY