82 BEAUTIBEUIY BIRDS 
has promised—never, mever to buy a hat that has a 
beautiful Black Bird of Paradise in it. 
Now, as I have said that the Black Bird of Paradise 
is such a very wonderful bird—as I have even called 
him a “wonder of wonders ’—perhaps you will think 
that there is no other Bird of Paradise quite so 
wonderful as he is. Well, I do not wonder at your 
thinking so; and, do you know, whilst I was describ- 
ing him to you and telling you how wonderful he 
was, I thought so too. But I had forgotten the Blue 
Bird of Paradise. 
The Blue Bird of Paradise is quite as wonderful 
as the Black one. Perhaps—but mind I only say 
perhaps—he is even a little more wonderful. To 
begin with, blue is a very uncommon colour for a 
Bird of Paradise to be of. None of the Birds of 
Paradise that I have told you about have feathers 
that are really blue. There are blue lights, I know, in 
some of their feathers, especially on the head, but still 
they are not quite blue. You could hardly call them 
blue feathers, for there is a green light or a purple 
light as well as a blue light in them, which makes 
them bluey-green or greeny purple, or, at any rate, 
green or purple and blue, not just blue by itself. 
And then, as you know, sometimes all those lights 
go to sleep and then the feathers are black. I do 
not think there is any Bird of Paradise except the Blue 
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