Page:Folk Tales of Beasts and Men.djvu/36

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Birds

HOW THE GOLDFINCH GOT HIS COLOURS

WHEN the Angel whose mission it was to colour the birds had finished his work, he began to scrape his palette and to make ready for departure. He had done his task well, for the plumage of the feathered creatures all around him glowed with a thousand glorious colours. There was the lordly eagle, arrayed in a robe of golden brown. The peacock had a tail of shimmering blue and green that looked as if it were studded with precious stones. The crow's black coat shone in the sun with a kind of steely radiance, very wonderful to behold. The canary was as yellow as a butter cup; the jay had a spot of blue sky on either wing; even the humble sparrow wore a handsome black neck-tie; while10

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