Then Cyril put out a hand towards the bird.

It put its head on one side and looked up at him, as you may have seen a parrot do when it is just going to speak, so that the children were hardly astonished at all when it said, 'Be careful; I am not nearly cool yet.' They were not astonished, but they were very, very much interested.
They looked at the bird, and it was certainly worth looking at.

Its feathers were like gold.

It was about as large as a bantam, only its beak was not at all bantam-shaped.

'I believe I know what it is,' said Robert.