PURPLE GRAKLE. 225 



consolation, however, to the industrious cultivator, I can assure 

 him, that were I placed in his situation, I should hesitate wheth- 

 er to consider these birds most as friends or enemies, as they 

 are particularly destructive to almost all the noxious worms, 

 grubs, and caterpillars, that infest his fields, which, were they 

 allowed to multiply unmolested, would soon consume nine-tenths 

 of all the production of his labour, and desolate the country 

 with the miseries of famine ! Is not this another striking proof 

 that the Deity has created nothing in vain; and that it is the du- 

 ty of man, the lord of the creation, to avail himself of their use- 

 fulness, and guard against their bad effects as securely as possi- 

 ble, without indulging in the barbarous, and even impious, wish 

 for their utter extermination? 



The Purple Grakle is twelve inches long, and eighteen in ex- 

 tent; on a slight view seems wholly black, but placed near, in 

 a good light, the whole head, neck, and breast, appear of a rich 

 glossy steel blue, dark violet and silky green; the violet prevails 

 most on the head and breast, and the green on the hind part of 

 the neck; the back, rump, and whole lower parts, the breast 

 excepted, reflect a strong coppery gloss; wing-coverts, seconda- 

 ries, and coverts of the tail, rich light violet, in which the red 

 prevails; the rest of the wings, and cuneiform tail, are black, 

 glossed with steel blue. All the above colours are extremely 

 shining, varying as differently exposed to the light; iris of the 

 eye silvery; bill more than an inch long, strong, and furnished 

 on the inside of the upper mandible with a sharp process, like 

 the stump of the broken blade of a penknife, intended to assist 

 the bird in masticating its food; tongue thin, bifid at the end, 

 and lacerated along the sides. 



The female is rather less; has the upper part of the head, 

 neck and the back, of a dark sooty brown; chin, breast, and 

 belly, dull pale brown, lightest on the former; wings, tail, low- 

 er parts of the back and vent, black, with a few reflections of 

 dark green; legs, feet, bill, and eyes, as in the male. 



The Purple Grakle is easily tamed, and sings in confinement. 



VOL. i. 3 H 



