is a most wonderful sight. You have seen a cloud at sunset
shining with lovely tints of red and pink and orange: well, the flock
of flamingos flying in the sky looks something like that. And they all
_keep level_ at the same great height, in _rows and ranks_, just like
an army, as there are thousands and thousands of flamingos in the
flock.

Sometimes the rows and ranks widen out for a few minutes, and fill a
large portion of the sky; then they close up again, and look like one
long banner of red floating in the sky.

And all the time they have sentinels that fly outside the rows and
ranks. They make the pattern in the sky still more beautiful.

My dear children, the more you think of these wonders of the jungle
and of the world, the more you will understand how great and wise is
God, Who made all these things.

_The Parrot_

Another bright bird that lives in the jungle in a flock is the
_parrot_. You know all about him, as you must have often seen him
caged, or chained by the leg to a stand. But he is different in his
happy home in the jungle. He lives in almost every sunny country, and
flies about in flocks.

Wild parrots also make their nests in flocks. In India there is a
deserted city called Amber. Once upon a time a great King lived there
in a lovely marble palace; and the nobles and courtiers also had
lovely marble palaces and mansions.

But one day the King said that they must all leave that city, and go
and build another city. So everybody left the city of Amber, and
to-day it still stands perfect--lovely marble palaces and mansions,
with hundreds of bushes of wild roses growing all around them.

Nobody lives there, except thousands and thousands of wild parrots,
that have made their nests upon the roofs of the palaces, in the
porticoes and balconies, and upon the tops of the marble pillars and
columns.

Just think of that lovely sight! The blue sky above, the red roses on
the ground below, and the white marble palaces between the blue sky
and the red roses; and many thousands of green parrots flitting across
the sky, and from palace to rose bush. Broad bands of red, white, and
blue, with bright flashes of green between them!

Another lovely sight is a flock of wild parrots in the jungle, going
home to roost at sunset. I once saw that sight. Their beautiful green
wings and the patches of yellow on their heads shone amidst the
gorgeous colors of the sunset. And as the parrots flew on and on, many