Kevin Swanson, age 7, of Sioux City, Iowa, for his question:

What kind of bird is the quetzal?

Suppose you watched all the birds pass by one by one. The parade is a beauty contest and your job is to choose the champ. You might give second place to the graceful swan or the gaudy peacock. But then the quetzal bird goes by, you will surely decide that he is the world's most beautiful bird.

The quetzal is a shy and very quiet bird and few people ever see him. He is at home . in the misty jungles of Guatemala and in some other parts of Central America. There he sits quite still for: hours, perched on a bough among the thick, shady leaves and bright tropical flowers. Chances are, you would not notice him. But if a sunbeam happened to catch his glistening feathers, you would know for sure that you were looking at the most beautiful bird in the world.

The handsome fellow of four feet long, but more than half of his length is tail. And what a tail! Its trailing, vivid green feathers glitter like polished metal and they curve gracefully down in a train more than two feet long. Under the swooping train he has a shorter tail of black and white that is stiff and shiny. His head is crowned with a staff, kingly crest that curves down and around his cheeks. The feathers on his head and wings, his back and bib are of the same vivid, jewel toned green as his regal train. The soft feathers of his chest and tummy are glistening strawberry red.

Mrs. Quetzal wears quieter colors and she has no royal train. The handsome bird paradise and most other gaudy birds tend to neglect their drab wives and children. But not so the handsome quetzal bird. He helps Mrs. Quetzal find a suitable hollow for a nest in a log or tree trunk. And he takes his turn sitting on the pale eggs until they hatch.

This is quite a problem for the handsome bird. The nest is a crowded hole and he has to tuck in his long tail feathers. But, being a good father,. he finds a way. When his turn comes to sit on the eggs, he enters the little woody doorway head first. Then he wriggles and turns himself around to face the door. While he does this, he manages to turn his long, brilliant tail up and over his back. When he finally settles down, the jewel green tips are hanging over his head and face. Mrs. Quetzal is out foraging for food. When she returns, her handsome husband wriggles out, head first, finds a perch and once again, his long tail feathers can droop , wn in a graceful train.     ''

Quetzal birds catch a few insects as they flutter from bough to bough. But their favorite food is fruit and there are plenty of lush berries in the dense, misty jungle! The parent birds are never far apart, but quetzals are not very chatty. They have little to say and they never sing. When startled, Mr. Quetzal may utter a long note and flutter his tail. The note begins high and slides down lower and lower.

The quetzals have more than 30 gorgeous cousins in other parts of the world. The handsome relatives are called trogon birds and most of them are rarely seen. The lovely feathers of this family of birds are very frail and easily fall from their delicate skins. It is almost impossible to stuff a fragile quetzal specimen for display. However, the beautiful bird was sacred to the ancient Aztec Indians of Central America

They gathered its feathers and skillful experts used them to make capes and head dresses for their kings and royal princes.