66 ZOOLOGY OF INDIA. 



probably, however, some exaggeration in this account ; 

 because M. Duplessin, who resided several years on the 

 island, has given it as his opinion that the paradise-grakle 

 might be advantageously introduced into Spain, which, 

 from its proximity to Africa, is not unfrequently ravaged 

 by the locust hordes. He adds, that so far from having 

 become a nuisance in the Isle of Bourbon, the laws for its 

 preservation are still in force.* We may mention that this 

 species is of the same lively and imitative disposition as the 

 mina-bird, and is easily taught to speak. When kept near 

 a farm-yard, or other assemblage of domesticated creatures, 

 it spontaneously acquires the various cries of dogs, ducks, 

 geese, sheep, pigs, and poultrj-. 



The manners of this genus in general resemble those 

 of the starling. They fly in troops, searchuig for insect 

 prey ; their habits are familiar, their docility remarkable, 

 and their powers of imitation almost unparalleled. The 

 only other species which we shall mention is the pagoda- 

 thrush, so called from its frequent occurrence among the 

 pagodas of Malabar and Coromandel. It is frequently 

 kept caged for the sake of its song.t • 



That division of the great Linnaean genus Certhia which 

 includes the soui-mangoes, or honey-eaters (genus Cinnyns, 

 Cuvier), is widely dispersed over all the southern regions 

 of the old continent, and seems in those countries to re- 

 present the beautiful humming-birds of the Western World. 

 Indeed these tribes greatly resemble each other both in 

 form and habits. The soui-mangoes are subject to a double 

 moult, which occasions a considerable diversity in the 

 plumage even of the same species, according to the season 

 of the year; and hence our knowledge of this sumptuous 

 family, though voluminous, is probably not as yet remark- 

 able for its accuracy. Several splendid works, however, 

 have been devoted, either in whole or in part, to their 

 illustration.t The nuptial plumage is remarkable for its 



* Shaw's General 'Zoology, vol. vii p. 457. 



t Sonnerat, Voyage aux Iiides. 



i Le Vaillant, Hist. Nat. dee Oiseaux d'Afrique, five vols, in 4to, Tana, 

 1799, and subsequent years. Audubert, Oiseaux, dorfs ou a reflets 

 metalliques, two vols, in folio, Paris, 1802. A continuauon of tUui 

 work has been published by M. Vieillot. 



