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Sarasota News Leader April 12, 2013 Page 81 Greece made vain by his vast riches. When the wise Solon of Athens visited the kingdom, Croesus led him through his treasure rooms and asked Solon if he had ever seen greater opulence. Solon answered that he had. Gold and gemstones, he said, pale before the incomparable beauty of birds like peacocks. Later, the gods punished Croesus for his vanity, but that is another story! As Solon noted, other birds possess incomparable beauty. For example, take the iridescent Velvet-Purple Coronet, a species of hummingbird native to Ecuador. In this case, we are so amazed and impressed by his small size, i.e., the exquisite delicacy of his makeup. From A Velvet-Purple Coronet. Photo courtesy Rick his tiny feet to his miniscule enameled breast Greenspun feathers, he is a hovering bijou, glittering in dwellers, and around here they only fly sevthe sunlight. eral yards to perch on a fence or the roof of a In the case of the peacock, size really matters. porch; and at night they fly up to roost safely When in full mating regalia, the male Pavo, a in trees or elevated cotes people have conmember of the pheasant (Phasianidae) fami- structed for them. I have provided you a specly, is one of the world's largest flying birds, up tacular photo of a peacock in his native India, to six feet in length. You will probably never which enables readers to see what he looks see a peacock in full flight. They are ground like in full flight. A flying peacock. Photo by Servophbabu via Wikimedia Commons