But now, besides his six little shafts or arrows and the beautiful golden feathers on his throat and breast--they are very large, I must tell you, those feathers, and sometimes they look green and blue as well as golden--this Bird of Paradise has two immense tufts of beautiful, soft, silky feathers on each side of the breast. So large each tuft is, that when he lifts them both up--as of course he can do--they almost hide him altogether. Then on the back of his head he has a band of feathers, so wonderfully bright that they do not seem to be feathers at all. They look more like jewels--yes, jewels. It is as if some magician had taken the sheen and shining light out of the emerald and topaz, and put them on that bird's head, and told them to stay there. Then on his forehead, just above the beak--as if all this were not enough--there is a patch, quite a large patch, of pure white feathers that shine like satin. Really I think you might almost say that this Bird of Paradise was _the_ most wonderful of all the Birds of Paradise. But take care, do not say it out loud or you will offend _all_ the others. Only I forgot, they are not here. Well, then, you _may_ say it out loud, if you really think so. I do wish I could have got this bird's picture, but as he would not give it me, you must look at the picture of the Golden-winged Bird of Paradise instead. _He_ is a very handsome bird, too--very much brighter than he looks. [Illustration: GOLDEN-WINGED BIRD OF PARADISE] Well, this makes the sixth Bird of Paradise which I have been able to tell you something about--I mean about their appearance, for very little else is known about them. But, do you know, there are some forty or fifty different kinds, and, of course, if I were to describe them all, or anything like all (which, however, I should not be able to do), this little book would become quite a big book, and there would be no room in it for any other kinds of beautiful birds. So I won't describe any more Birds of Paradise, but I will just say something, before getting on to the other beautiful birds, about Birds of Paradise and beautiful birds in general. That means about most Birds of Paradise and most other beautiful birds. When we talk about things in general, or people in general, we mean most things or most people. But that must be in another chapter, for this one has been quite long enough, and so we must end it. Oh, but wait a minute. Really, I was quite forgetting. First you must get your mother to promise never to buy a hat in which there are any feathers belonging to the Golden or Six-shafted Bird of Paradise. Yes, and never to wear it either, even if she did not buy it, but had it given to her. Of course your father might give your mother a hat, but if he were to give her one of that sort, he would have to take it back to the shop and change it for another. CHAPTER VI About all Birds of Paradise, and Some Explanations