Another bright bird that lives in the jungle in a flock is the parrot. You know all about him, as you must have often seen him caged, or chained by the leg to a stand. But he is different in his happy home in the jungle. He lives in almost every sunny country, and flies about in flocks.
Wild parrots also make their nests in flocks. In India there is a deserted city called Amber. Once upon a time a great King lived there in a lovely marble palace; and the nobles and courtiers also had lovely marble palaces and mansions.
But one day the King said that they must all leave that city, and go and build another city. So everybody left the city of Amber, and to-day it still stands perfect—lovely marble palaces and mansions, with hundreds of bushes of wild roses growing all around them.
Nobody lives there, except thousands and thousands of wild parrots, that have made their nests upon the roofs of the palaces, in the porticoes and balconies, and upon the tops of the marble pillars and columns.
Just think of that lovely sight! The blue sky above, the red roses on the ground below, and the white marble palaces between the blue sky and the red roses; and many thousands of green parrots flitting across the sky, and from palace to rose bush. Broad bands of red, white, and blue, with bright flashes of green between them!
Another lovely sight is a flock of wild parrots in the jungle, going home to roost at sunset. I once saw that sight. Their beautiful green wings and the patches of yellow on their heads shone amidst the gorgeous colors of the sunset. And as the parrots flew on and on, many thousands of them, their own colors mingled with the colors of the sunset in ever-changing bands. They flew toward the setting sun, and passed out of sight right into the sun, as it were.
After seeing a sight like that—seeing God's lovely creatures flying about like happy children at play—who wants to see a bird boxed up in a cage?
The Cockatoo
Another bright bird which you may have seen in a cage, or chained to a stand, is the cockatoo. He is a cousin of the parrot, but much larger, and far more gorgeous. He has a beautiful crest of red and orange feathers on his head. His wings are a rosy pink in color; and he has a long pink and white tail.
In other ways he is very much like the parrot. He lives chiefly in the countries of southern Asia, and in the islands between Asia and Australia.