PURf LE-:SREASTEr> I5LUE MANAktK. 
feed ; and, particularly, what are' termed Ka- 
rias, in America; and which, according to 
some, are wood-lice; and, according to others, 
a sort of ants. The Creoles, it is said, have 
more motives than one, for hunting after these 
birds : the beauty of the plumage, which pleases 
the eye; and, according to some, the delicacy 
©f the flesh, which delights the palate. But if 
is difficult to obtain both : for the plumaga h 
often spoiled in attempting to skin the bird; 
and this, probablv, is the reason why so many 
imperfedl specimens are now brought front 
America. It is said, that they alight among 
the rice crops, and do considerable injury ; if 
this be true, they have still another reason foi 
destroying them. The si^e varies in the dif-i 
ferent species, from that of a small Pigeon td 
that of a Redwing, or even under. In all of 
them, the bill is broad at the base: the edges of 
the upper mandible, and often those of th^ 
tower, arc scalloped near the tip. The first 
phalanx of the outer toe is joined to the mid-» 
tile toe ; and, lasily, in most of them, the tail 
is a little forked, or notched, and consists of 
twelve quills. 
Oat 
