316 



THE M1NO BIRD. 



bowers, which had evidently been resorted to for many years, contained nearly half a bushel 

 of bones and shells." 



The color of this bird is a rich brown covered with buff spots, and upon the back of the 

 neck there is a band of lengthened feathers of a beautiful rose-pink, and glistening with a 

 satin-like sheen. For more detailed information of these curious birds, as well as for some 

 admirable colored engravings of themselves and their bowers, the reader is referred to Gould's 

 " Birds of Australia." 



SPOTTED BOWEK BTRD.Cfilamydodera maculata. 



THE account of the Glossy Starlings would be incomplete without a passing mention of 

 the JUIDA, a bird rather larger than the common starling, with an elongated tail, and a plum- 

 age that is most singularly covered with every imaginable shade of shining copper, purple, 

 violet, and blue, intermixed in such a manner as to defy description, and seeming as if the 

 hues had been splashed at random upon the feathers, and then rubbed in and polished. There 

 are several species of Juida, some inhabiting Australia, and others being found in India and 

 Africa. They live in flocks, often attacking the gardens and making great havoc among the 

 fruit. They are also in the habit of perching upon the backs of cattle for the sake of catch- 

 ing the various insects which are always to be found upon a cow's back. Their nest is usually 

 made in the clefts of rocks. 



THE GRAKLES. 



THE Graculinse, or Grakles, form the next group of birds. Formerly a very large number 

 of species were ranked among the members of this group, but the naturalists of the present 

 day have restricted the appellation to comparatively few birds. In all the species the bill is 

 broad at the base, with the ridge of the upper mandible slightly curved, and there is a little 

 notch near the extremity 



THE MINO BIRD is very common in many parts of India and the Indian Islands, where it 

 is frequently captured and domesticated 



