118 BEAUTIEUL BIRDS 
tiums that make the air blush in spots, azaleas 
with scarlet that has swooned into pink, and pink 
that has blushed into scarlet, and calceolarias that 
look like yellow flower-bubbles that fairies have 
blown into the air and that have come down, softly, 
upon delicate little stalks, and stayed there without 
bursting. Not all of these wonderful flowers have 
a scent, for scented flowers are commoner here in 
England than in far-off tropical countries. But a 
few of them have, and ‘heir scent is so exquisite 
that you would think it was sent from heaven. 
Some of the flowers have leaves that are even 
more beautiful than themselves, and sometimes it is 
the leaves that you look at and not the flowers at 
all. Some of these leaves seem to be made of 
velvet, or something even softer and more velvety shan 
velvet, whilst the colours in them are like the pattern 
of a very beautiful Turkey carpet. Others look like 
wonderful spear-heads or the tops of very ornamental 
park railings, green and red and orange, and all 
striped and spotted and speckled like the skin of 
newts or lizards. There are some leaves so large, 
too, that they would almost make a carpet for a 
very small room, and so handsome that you might 
go into all the haberdashers’ shops in the world 
without finding any carpet that would look nearly 
so well. Some are still larger, and those are the 
