60 BEAUTIFUL SBIRDS 
about in this book—there was no room for him— 
but that does not matter. He sent me his picture, 
and it will show you what these “‘funny feathers” 
are like. There zs a Bird of Paradise that has twelve 
of them, but now I must finish talking about the 
Red Bird of Paradise. I have told you about 
the glorious crimson plumes that he has on his 
sides, and the two funny feathers, like ribbons, in 
his tail, and the double crest of beautiful emerald- 
green feathers on his forehead, but, of course, there 
are other parts of him besides these, and I must 
tell you what they are like too. His head and 
his back and his shoulders are yellow, as they are 
in the Great Bird of Paradise, but it is a deeper 
and richer yellow, not the light, straw - coloured 
yellow which /e has and which is very pretty too (I 
am sure we should never agree as to which is the 
prettier of these two birds). His throat, too, is of a 
deep metallic green colour—you know what metallic 
means now-—but those lovely green feathers go 
farther up, in fact right over the front part of the 
head—which is his forehead—so as to make those 
two sweet little crests which he has, and which help 
to make him such a very handsome bird. The rest 
of his wings and body, and his tail,.except the two 
ribbons in it, are brown—a nice, handsome, rich, 
coffee-brown—his legs are blue, and his beak is a fine 
