PURPLE GRAKLE. 
337 
lord of the creation, to avail himself of their usefulness, and 
guard against their bad effects as securely as possible, without 
indulging in the barbarous and even impious wish for their 
utter extermination ? 
The Purple Grakle is twelve inches long, and eighteen in 
extent; 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, secondaries, and coverts of the tail, rich 
light violet, in which the red prevails ; the rest of the wings, 
and rounded 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 macerating 
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, 
lower 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. 
They have also, in several instances, been taught to articulate 
some few words pretty distinctly. 
A singular attachment frequently takes place between this 
bird and the Fish Hawk. The nest of this latter is of very 
large dimensions, often from three to four feet in breadth, and 
from four to five feet high; composed, externally, of large 
sticks, or fagots, among the interstices of which sometimes 
three or four pairs of Crow Blackbirds will construct their 
nests, while the Hawk is sitting or hatching above. Here 
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