The variety of beauty in the coverings of birds is very great. The various colors are arranged in their plumage in every variety of manner, and there are all shades of the colors, from the most brilliant to the most delicate.
The hoopoe.
Commonly the greatest display in the plumage of birds is in the delicate and downy feathers of the breast. But the bird that you see here, the hoopoe, has its chief beauty in its crest, which is of an orange color tipped with black. It is one of the most elegant of birds.
The beauty of the peacock.
Its pride.
Its disagreeable voice.
In the peacock, a drawing of which you have here, there is a great display of colors. The animal struts about, and, lifting its tail in the air, spreads it like a fan, and seems to be very foolishly proud of its beauty. Proud people generally have something disagreeable about them, and so it is with the peacock. Its voice is so harsh and screeching that no one wants it in his neighborhood.