hen each in turn stated his own case as a claimant for the
kingship--the ostrich could run the fastest, the bird of paradise and
the peacock could look the prettiest, the parrot could talk the best,
the canary could sing the sweetest, and every one of them, for some
reason or other, was in his own opinion superior to his fellows. After
several days of fruitless discussion it was finally decided that
whichever bird could soar the highest should be, once and for all,
proclaimed king.

Every bird who could fly at all tried his best, and the golden eagle,
confident of success, waited till last. Finally he spread his wings, and
as he did so an impudent little goldcrest hopped (unbeknown to his great
rival) on to his back. Up went the eagle, and soon outdistanced every
other bird. Then, when he had almost reached the sun, he shouted out,
"Well, here I am, the highest of all!" "Not so," answered the goldcrest,
as, leaving the eagle's back, he fluttered upward, until suddenly he
knocked his head against the sun and set fire to his crest. Stunned by
the shock, the little upstart fell headlong to the ground, but, soon
recovering himself, he immediately flew up on to the royal rock and
showed the golden crown which he had assumed. Unanimously he was
proclaimed king of the birds, and by this name, concludes the legend, he
has ever since been known, his sunburnt crest remaining as a proof of
his cunning and daring.

In those parts of Norway where the goldcrest is rarely seen the same
story, omitting the part about the sun and the burnt crest, is told of
the common wren, who is said to have broken off his tail in his great
fall. And to this is applied the moral: "Proud and ambitious people
sometimes meet with an unexpected downfall."

There are at least seven kinds of woodpeckers found in Norway, and of
these the great black woodpecker is the largest. The woodmen consider it
to be a bird which brings bad luck, and avoid it as much as possible.
They call it "Gertrude's Bird" because of the following legend:

"Our Saviour once called on an old woman who lived all alone in a little
cottage in an extensive forest in Norway. Her name was Gertrude, and she
was a hard, avaricious old creature, who had not a kind word for
anybody, and although she was not badly off in a worldly point of view,
she was too stingy and selfish to assist any poor wayfarer who by chance
passed her cottage door. One day our Lord happened to come that way,
and,