104 BEAUTIFUL BIRDS 
in xow, but later on—when you are a clever person— 
you can try the other. Now, you know, you are 
only a little child, and something that is simple and 
pretty is the right thing for a little child. But a 
clever person wants a different kind of explanation to 
that. He wants a clever one, and as soon as you feel 
that you have become a clever person, there will be a 
clever explanation all ready for you. 
But now, whilst you are still a little child, I can 
give you another explanation of why the males and 
females of some birds are as beautiful as each other, 
whilst the males of some other ones are ever so much 
the most beautiful. This other explanation will do 
in case the one about the cock Birds of Paradise flying 
faster than the hens is not the right one, for, of course, 
we cannot be quite sure that they flew faster. I did say 
I was sure, but that was just a little mistake of mine. 
One is not vea/ly sure of a thing until one knows it, 
and I don’t quite know that it happened like that, 
however much I may think it did. Besides, this new 
explanation that lam going to give you will do for 
all other birds as well as for the Birds of Paradise, 
and, of course, the more anything explains the better 
explanation it is. So now I will give it you, and, if 
you like it better than the other, you can take it instead, 
and if you only like it as well, then you will have two 
nice explanations instead of only one. Here it is. 
