clever people rush in from their hiding place, throw a net
over the bear, and carry him away. And that is how the zoo gets some
of its bears.

CHAPTER XV

Bright Birds

Now I shall tell you something about birds; not ordinary birds, but a
special sort.

Of course, birds are not exactly animals of the kind that I have been
telling you about, as they have only two legs, instead of four. But
they have two wings, which are more useful to them than two more legs.

If they had four legs they could run fast; but with the two wings they
can fly, which is ever so much faster and better than running. And
they still have two legs with which to stand on the ground, when they
have to come down to rest or to feed.

The birds that I am going to tell you about live wild in the jungle,
and are free to build their nests where they like.

Among the birds we like best, some can _sing_, and some have _bright
feathers_. Those that sing may live near your own homes in the
country--the lark, the thrush, the nightingale, and some others. But
the birds that have bright feathers live generally in other countries.

_Most birds that have lovely voices do not have bright feathers_; and
_most birds that have lovely feathers cannot sing_.

So among animals everything is very fair and just. With us it
sometimes _seems_ different. Some children appear to have all the good
luck, and others all the bad luck. Some children can sing well, and
are also very pretty; others cannot sing at all, and are also plain to
look at. But really things are not quite so unfair; for a child who is
plain, and cannot sing, may still have _some other gift_.

Among birds, those that can sing you may have seen often enough near
your own homes in the country; so I shall now tell you about the birds
that have bright feathers.

Most birds with bright feathers live in hot countries, where it is
_sunny_ almost the whole year. In fact, it is the bright light of the
sun in those countries that gives the colors to the feathers of the
birds, which are as lovely as the colors of the rainbow.

Among the bright birds that live quite wild in the jungles of hot
countries, the most beautiful are the _flamingo_, the _parrot_, the
_cockatoo_, the _peacock_, the _golden pheasant_, the _egret_, and a
few others.

_The Flamingo_

I shall tell you first about the flamingos, as they _live together in
flocks_. They were once found in America, and only a few years ago
ther