12 
THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 
Tliere lives the Bird of Paradise, that the 
natives of the country call "God's Bird;" for 
they think it is more splendid than any other 
He has made ; and when I have given you a 
description of it, I daresay you will think 
so too. 
In the first place, its head and neck are as 
soft as velvet, and of a golden tint, that changes, 
while you are looking at it, into all the colours 
of the rainbow. Then, its tail is a magnificent 
plume of fairy-like feathers, partly white and 
partly yellow, so that you might think they 
were made of gold and silver. This plume is 
very much longer than the body, and makes 
the bird appear larger than it is, for in reality 
it is only about the size of a pigeon. 
We can hardly faricy a flock of these beau- 
tiful birds upon the wing, seeming to float at 
their ease, or else pursuing the large and gaily- 
painted butterflies that serve them for food. 
But this is no uncommon sight in that land of 
flowers and spices, — a land that seems just 
fitted for the home q£ the Bird of Paradise ! 
But here, as in all^^ical countries, there is 
a season of rai^ and storm ; and then the birds 
disappear, as the swallows do in E^^land^ and 
