SUN'-BIRD IF SUMATRA. 173 



cannot find it. But all the time it is close by him, 

 and he has looked at it again and again without 

 recognizing it. 



It has settled on a twig, with its wings closed, 

 and looks so much like a leaf that he has mistaken 

 it for one. The reason of this great resemblance 

 is soon explained. The upper wings of the butter- 

 fly end in a fine point like the tip of a leaf, and 

 the lower wings end in a projection very much 

 like a stalk ; and, besides that, there is a stripe 

 up the wing that looks exactly like the midrib of 

 the leaf, and there are other markings that corre- 

 spond with the veins. 



The butterfly drops down upon a twig, and is 

 thus lost sight of; and this is the way it escapes 

 many of its enemies. 



The Sun-Bird in the Picture was named after 

 Mrs. Gould, the wife of Mr. Gould the naturalist. 

 It wears, as you see, a costume of blue, yellow, 

 and red, and has light brown wings which are 

 always in motion. As it flutters in the sunlight, 

 it seems some fairy creature decked in gold and 

 azure and all the tints of the rainbow. 



