ORNITHOLOGY. 



PLATE XCVIII. 



GRACULA RELIGIOSA 

 MINOR GRAKLE 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Bill convex, acutely edged and rather naked at the base: 

 tongue entire, rather sharp and fleshy : feet formed for walking. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER 

 AND 

 SYNONYMS. 



Violet-black ; spot on the wings white, hind head with a yellow 

 naked band. 



Gracula Religiosa : nigro-violacea, macula alarum alba, fascia 

 occipitis nuda ilava. Lirm. Si/st. 1. p, 164. L 

 Gmel. Syst. \. p, 395. Lath, Lid. Orn. U L 

 189. L 



The facility with which the various birds of the Parrot tribe 

 articulate the sounds of the human voice is known to every one, but 

 it is certainly less generally understood that there are many other 

 beings of the feathered race which are capable, in a greater or less 

 degree of expressing the like sounds, and some among the number 

 with admirable success. The bird before us is one especially endow- 

 ed with those extraordinary powers of utterance in an eminent 



VOL. III. L 



