CHAPTER XV
Bright Birds
Now I shall tell you something about birds; not ordinary birds, but a special sort.
Of course, birds are not exactly animals of the kind that I have been telling you about, as they have only two legs, instead of four. But they have two wings, which are more useful to them than two more legs.
If they had four legs they could run fast; but with the two wings they can fly, which is ever so much faster and better than running. And they still have two legs with which to stand on the ground, when they have to come down to rest or to feed.
The birds that I am going to tell you about live wild in the jungle, and are free to build their nests where they like.
Among the birds we like best, some can sing, and some have bright feathers. Those that sing may live near your own homes in the country—the lark, the thrush, the nightingale, and some others. But the birds that have bright feathers live generally in other countries.
Most birds that have lovely voices do not have bright feathers; and most birds that have lovely feathers cannot sing.
So among animals everything is very fair and just. With us it sometimes seems different. Some children appear to have all the good luck, and others all the bad luck. Some children can sing well, and are also very pretty; others cannot sing at all, and are also plain to look at. But really things are not quite so unfair; for a child who is plain, and cannot sing, may still have some other gift.
Among birds, those that can sing you may have seen often enough near your own homes in the country; so I shall now tell you about the birds that have bright feathers.