574 



Insessores 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



says that the Javanese, who esteem it highly, and part 

 with it unwillingly, obtain it only by navigation. The In- 

 dian species he has named Javanus, but without assigning 

 any special reason for such transmutations. The plumage 

 is the same in both. Old Edwards seems long ago to 

 have indicated the two kinds. " The greater minor,'' 

 says he, " for bigness equals a jackdaw or magpie ; the 

 lesser hardly exceeds a blackbird, so that the one is at 

 least twice as big as the other." The bird described by 

 Bontius as an Indian starling was a mina. It imitated 

 man's voice more accurately than a parrot, and " was 

 oftentimes troublesome with its prattle." 



In the genus Gracula, Cuv. {Pastor, Temm.), the bill 

 is compressed, straight, or but slightly arched, the notch 

 feeble, and the commissures form an angle as in the star- 

 lings. This restricted genus contains several interesting 

 species, such as the pagoda-thrush (G. pagodarum), so 

 called from its frequent occurrence among the pagodas of 

 Malabar and Coromandel. According to Sonnerat, it is 

 often kept caged for the sake of its song. The paradise 

 grakle of Latham {Par. tristis, Linn.) also pertains to this 

 genus. It is well named Gracula gryllivora by Daudin, 

 and is remarkable, as its name implies, for the destruction 

 of locusts. We abridge the following particulars from 

 BufFon. The island of Bourbon, where this species was 

 formerly unknown, was once overrun to an alarming ex- 

 tent by locusts, which had been accidentally introduced 

 from Madagascar. The governor-general and the inten- 

 dant of the island, alarmed at the desolation which was 

 taking place, deliberated on the best means of extirpation, 

 and with that view they introduced several pairs of the so- 

 called paradise grakle from India. The plan promised to 

 be successful ; but unfortunately some of the colonists ob- 

 serving the birds eagerly thrusting their bills into the soil 

 of the newly-sown fields, imagined they were in quest of 

 grain, and spread a report that the grakles, so far from 

 proving beneficial, were likely to be highly detrimental to 

 the country. The case was argued in due form. It was 

 stated on the part of the grakles, that they ransacked the 

 new-ploughed fields, not for grain, but insects ; but the op- 

 posite view prevailed, and two hours after the edict of 

 proscription passed, not a living individual was to be found 

 in the island. A speedy repentance followed this intem- 

 perate and hasty execution, the locusts regained their as- 

 cendency, and soon becoming more injurious than ever, 

 the grakles were again introduced, after an absence of 

 nearly eight years. Their preservation and extension 

 now became an affair of state, laws were enacted in their 

 favour, and the physicians (we presume, from policy) de- 

 clared their flesh unwholesome. An opposite inconve- 

 nience, however, is said to have since arisen. The birds 

 having prodigiously increased in numbers, and being no 

 longer adequately sustained by insect food, have had re- 

 course to grapes, dates, and mulberries, and have even pro- 

 ceeded to scratch up rice, maize, wheat, beans, and other 

 useful produce ; they enter pigeon-houses, and attack bdth 

 eggs and young ; and thus, after destroying the destroyer, 

 they have themselves become a greater pestilence than that 

 which they extirpated. There is perhaps some exaggeration 

 in the concluding parts of this statement, as M. Duplessin, 

 who resided several years in the island, states that the laws 

 for its preservation are still in force. We may add, that 

 this bird is of the same lively and imitative disposition as 

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

 a farm-yard, or other place resorted to by different kinds 

 of creatures, it spontaneously acquires the various cries 

 of dogs, ducks, geese, sheep, pigs, and poultry. The man- 

 ners of the genus in general resemble those of the star- 

 ling. They fly in troops, searching for insect prey ; their 



habits are familiar, their docility remarkable, and their Insessores. 

 powers of imitation almost unparalleled. The only Euro- ^""~v"~' 

 pean species hitherto classed with the grakles is the beauti- 

 ful rose-coloured ouzel {P. roseus), which occurs in several 

 of the warmer countries of Asia and Africa, is not unfre- 

 quent in Spain and Italy, and shows itself in other parts 

 of Europe, more rarely as we proceed northwards. Even 

 in Tuscany and the Lombardo-Venetian territory it is es- 

 teemed unusual. A few are recorded to have built their 

 nests in the Florentine district in 1739. We do not know 

 that they have been since observed to breed in Europe. 

 They were very common in Dalmatia in 1832 ; and in the 

 year following one was shot in Ross-shire. 



In the genus Pyrrhocobax, Cuv. the bill is compres- 

 sed, arched, rather slender, slightly notched, the nostrils 

 covered with feathers. We have two European species, 

 according to Temminck's views, viz. the alpine crow of 

 Latham {P. pyrrhocorax), and our own red-legged crow 

 {P. gracidus). The former inhabits the highest of the 

 Northern and Helvetian Alps, seldom showing itself du- 

 ring the summer season at any distance from the regions 

 of perpetual snow ; the latter is also mountainous, but more 

 widely spread over countries of less elevation. It is not 

 unfrequent along many of the rocky coasts of England and 

 Wales, is frequent in the Isle of Man, and occurs occa- 

 sionally along the western shores of Scotland, and in Co- 

 lonsay and other islands. Baron Cuvier places this bird 

 alongside the hoopoes, as a tenuirostral genus called Fre- 

 gii.us. 



In the genus Oriolus the bill resembles that of the 

 thrushes, but is more powerful. The legs are shorter, and 

 the wings rather more lengthened. As now restricted, 

 this genus contains only the species of the ancient conti- 

 nent, those of America {Icterus, Cussicus, &c.) being in- 

 cluded among the conirostral tribes. The golden oriole 

 ( Oriolus galbula) is one of the most beautiful of European 

 birds. It occurs occasionally in Britain. It breeds in 

 many parts of the European continent, arriving in spring 

 and departing in autumn. It builds on the tops of trees, 

 its nest being attached to and partly suspended from a 

 forked branch. This species feeds on fruits and insects, 

 and is particularly fond of figs. The Italian peasants sup- 

 pose its cry to signify " Contadino, e maturo lo fico?" Its 

 own flesh is of most excellent flavour, especially in au- 

 tumn, when having for a time fared sumptuously on the 

 best of fruits, it has become extremely fat. The rich plu- 

 maged regent bird of New South Wales {Sericulus chryso- 

 cephalus, Swainson) is by some regarded as an oriole. 



The genus Gymnops, Cuv. possesses the strong bill of 

 the orioles, but a great part of the head is bare of feathers. 

 In some of the species there is a prominence on the base 

 of the beak. Such are the knob-fronted bee-eater of 

 White 1 {Merops comiculatus), figured by Vaillant under 

 the name of corbicalao ( Ois. d'Amerique et deslndes, pi. 24), 

 and the cowled bee-eater {Merops monachus, Latham). 

 The tongue is said to be tufted like that of Philedon. 

 To the genus Gymnops Cuvier also refers the bald grakle 

 {G. calva, Linn, and Lath.), a remarkable species, native 

 to the Philippine Islands, where it is said to build in the 

 hollows of the cocoa-nut tree. It feeds on fruits, and is 

 extremely voracious. 



In the genus Mentjra, Shaw, the bill is straight, some- 

 what triangular at the base, compressed, the nostrils 

 lengthened, central. Region of the eyes bare. Feet large 

 and strong. The only known species of this singular and 

 somewhat anomalous genus, the lyre-tail of New Holland 

 (M. lyra or superba), is characterized by the great ex- 

 tension and peculiar structure of the tail-feathers. (See 

 Plate CCCXCI. fig. 4.) It is equal in size to a pheasant. 



Voyage to Botany Bay, p. 190. 



