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.

_The Peacock_

And now I come to the most beautiful bird of all, the _peacock_. When
he spreads out his long tail, it looks just like a lady's fan, only
far lovelier than any fan made by men. In color the tail is a kind of
blue and green, with touches of gold and violet, and with "eyes"
dotted all over it in shades of many other colors.

The peacock can also close up his tail like a fan. Then the long
feathers of the tail all come together in many folds, and stand out a
yard long behind him.

The peacock is found wild in India and in countries near there, but
has now been brought into America and Europe. You may even have seen
the peacock in the parks and gardens of some cities, where he lives
quite peacefully, at least in the summer months. In the winter, of
course, he must have a warm place indoors.

The peacock is really the Papa bird, and the Mamma bird is called the
_peahen_. She has not the gorgeous tail and the lovely feathers that
he has; so she looks quite plain. You will find that _among animals
the Papas are often much prettier than the Mammas_.

That seems very strange, does it not? Among us, of course, the Mammas
are always prettier than the Papas!

But in another book I shall explain _why_ the Papas among animals are
often prettier than the Mammas.

_The Golden Pheasant_

There is another beautiful bird which has been brought to America, and
now lives here; it is the _golden pheasant_. Once upon a time he lived
only in China; but a few years ago people brought a number of golden
pheasants to America, and put them in the forests of Oregon and
Washington. So now there are many thousands o