94 BEAUTIFUL BIRDS 
his fine clothes-—for, of course, a bird’s feathers are his 
clothes just as much as our coats and dresses are ours. 
And, besides that, each one of them puts himself into 
some peculiar attitude, which he thinks is the best one 
to let his plumage be seen as he would like it to be. 
We may be quite sure of this, because it 1s what all 
birds do that have beautiful plumage; and many of 
them have regular places that they come to, to run 
or jump about in, just as soldiers come into a park 
or common to march about in it, and show off their 
nice pretty uniforms. There will always be a great 
many hen birds round these places, to look at the 
beautiful males, and there are always a great many 
ladies round the park or common, to look at the 
beautiful soldiers. 
Now, would it not be interesting if we knew what 
all these different Birds of Paradise did, and how they 
arranged their plumage, and what attitudes they went 
into, and whether they ran or jumped or flew or did 
all three, and all the rest of it? If only there was 
somebody who knew all that, I think he could write a 
very interesting book, and if only some one would go 
out into those countries, with a pair of glasses (or even 
a pair of eyes) instead of with a gun, and whenever he 
saw a Bird of Paradise would just look at it through 
the glasses (or with his own eyes, if it was near enough) 
instead of shooting it, I think Ae might write an inte- 
