CHAPTER XII 
White Egrets, “Ospreys,” and Ostrich- 
Feathers 
THE last bird I am going to tell you about is 
the White Egret. But, do you know, I am not 
quite sure if he is beautiful enough to be put in a 
book of beautiful birds, because, of course, a book of 
beautiful birds means a book of she most beautiful 
birds that there are, and I am not quite sure if the 
White Egret is so beautiful as all that. At any rate 
he is not so beautiful as the birds I have been telling 
you about, and there are many other birds in the 
world that I have zo¢ told you about, that are more 
beautiful than he is. So, perhaps, you will wonder 
why I put him into the book at all, but I will soon 
give you a proper explanation of it. In the first 
place, if the White Egret is not one of the most 
beautiful birds in the world, yet, at any rate, he has 
some of the most beautiful feathers that any bird has, 
and that alone, I think, gives him a right to be here, 
because, you know, “fine feathers make fine birds.” 
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