mveny BEAUTIFUL BLACK BIRD “71 
blackish-violet or a browny-purple as you know it 
does in the Great Bird of Paradise—it is brown there 
just the same. On the back, though, the Lesser Bird 
of Paradise is all yellow, so that here, if you re- 
member, it has the advantage; but then the long 
plumes on each side under the wings are not so long 
as in the Great Bird of Paradise, and they have only 
just a tinge of orange in them, instead of being of 
the beautiful golden-orange colour that /7s ones are. 
The tips of them, too, are white instead of mauvy- 
brown, and the two funny feathers in the tail are 
much shorter than the Great Bird of Paradise’s funny 
feathers. 
But although the Lesser Bird of Paradise is not 
such a beautiful bird as the Great Bird of Paradise is, 
still it is a very beautiful bird indeed—what Bird of 
Paradise is not ?’—and as it is commoner than the 
other Birds of Paradise and easier to get, it is the one 
that is most often killed and put into the hats that 
the women with the frozen hearts wear; which is 
why I want you to jump up and throw your arms 
round your mother’s neck and make her promise 
never, neyer to wear a hat that has a Lesser Bird of 
Paradise in it. 
And now, what would you say to a Black Bird 
of Paradise? For there is one—yes, and such a 
splendid bird. ‘Oh, but,” you will say, ‘if he is 
