The failed musicologist Szabo works as a home and animal caretaker for rich people. His successful, younger ex-colleague Fitzthum visits him to buy a rare record from him. In the process, a rare parrot, which Szabo is supposed to guard, escapes. Szabo already sees himself before the shards of his precarious existence. But Fitzthum has a brilliant idea. You could simply replace the animal with a similar looking one.