sacred quetzal of Guatemala--the transmigrated form of the god-king of
the Aztecs--the lyrebird and Kangaroo of New South Wales. New Foundland
has pictured the seal and cod fish, Western Australia the black swan,
Liberia the elephant and rhinocerous, and New Zealand the curious bird
called the apterix, which is wingless and clothed in hair instead of
feathers. Tasmania shows us her animal freak, the platypus paradoxus,
the beast with a bill, first cousin to our tailors and butchers, all of
whom are beasts with bills. Our own country has added to the philatelic
"zoo" by placing a herd of cattle on one of the Trans-Mississippi issue.
That it is a pretty picture cannot be denied but the connection between
cows and postage stamps is not obvious.

[Illustration: Stamp, "New Brunswick Postage", 3 pence]

[Illustration: Stamp, Japanese, 1 sen]

[Illustration: Stamp, "Imperio do Brazil", 300 reis]

New Foundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have adorned their stamps
with the heraldic rose, thistle and shamrock of the British Empire.
Japan, ever artistic and ever a lover of the beautiful, has placed on
her stamps the chrysanthemum, both as a flower and in its
conventionalized form as the crest of the Imperial family. And Nepal has
the lotus, sacred to Buddha. Brazil has shown us the brilliant
constellation of the Southern Cross which sparkles in the tropic sky.

[Illustration: Stamp, "Malta", 5 shillings]

Many nations have used their coats of arms as appropriate decorations
for their postal issues. On the five shilling stamps of Malta we find