G R A 
G R A 
their temple and datues. Tlieir robe was gilt ; one 
of them held in her hand a rofe, anotlier a dye, and the 
third a fprig of myrtle.—See the article Charites, 
vol. iv. p. 113. 
GRA'CIAN (Balthafar), an eminent Spanifli writer, 
born in 1603 at Calataiud. He entered among tlic Je- 
fuits at the age of fixteen, and became a teacher in the 
fociety fiicccflively of belles-lettres, of philolopliy, and 
theology. He was likewife for fome years a preacher j 
and finally was reftor of the Jefiiits’ college of Tarra¬ 
gona. He died in that college in 11558. His principal 
works are: i. El Hcroe (The Hero), 1637, under the 
name of Lorenzo Gracian, which he alfo took on other 
occafions. 2. EL Politico D. Fcrdinando d Catholico, 1641; 
or. Reflections on the political Condnft of Ferdinand 
the Catholic. 3. Agudezza y arte de Ingenio, 1642; a trea- 
tife on the different kinds of witty conceptions. 4. El 
Difcrclo, :646. 5. El Criticon, a work treating on the er¬ 
rors to which man is liable. 6. Oracalo Manual, y Ark de 
Prudcncia, 1647; a manual for prudent conduct. 7. El 
Comulgador, 1655; a colleftion of meditations on taking 
thic holy communion. Molt of thefe works have been 
tranflated into French, and other foreign languages. 
GRA'CIAS A DI'OS, a town of North America, in 
tlie country of Mexico, and province of Honduras, litu- 
ated at the niouth of a river, which communicates with 
the Bay of Honduras: 140 miles eaft of Guatimala. 
Lat. 14. 30. N. Ion. 72. 15. W. Greenwich. 
GRA'CILE, adj. '^gracilis, Lat.] Slender, fmall. 
GRA'CILENT, adj. \_gracile71tus, Lat.] Lean. 
GRACl'LITY, J. \_gracilitas, Lat.] Slcndernefs; 
fmallneli. ^ 
GRA'CIOUS, adj. \_grackux, Fr.] Merciful; bene¬ 
volent.—To be good and gracious, and a lover of know¬ 
ledge, are two of the molt amiable things. Burnet. —Fa¬ 
vourable ; kind.—And the Lord was gracious unto them, 
and had companion on them. 2 Kings, xiii. 23. 
From now reveal 
A gracious beam of light ; from now infpire 
My tongue to fing, my hand to touch the lyre. Prior. 
Acceptable ; favoured.—Doctrine is much more profit¬ 
able and gracious by example than by rule. Spenfer, —He 
made us gracious before the kings of Perlia, fo that they 
gave us food, i Efdr. viii. 80.—Virtuous; good.— 
Kings are no lefs unhappy, their ilTue not being gracious, 
than they are in lofing them when they have approved 
their virtues. Shakejpeare. —Excellent. Noxv obsolete .— 
The grievous abufe which hath been of councils, fhould 
rather caufe men to ftudy how fo gracious a thing may 
again be reduced to that firft perfection. Elooker. —Grace¬ 
ful ; becoming. Obfolcte. —Our women’s names are more 
gracious than their Rutilia, that is red-head. Camden. — 
This i'enl'e was extended to perfons.—There was not fuch 
•A gracious creature born. Shakejpeare. 
GRA'CIOUSLY, adv. Kindly; with kind conde- 
fcenfion.—If her majelty would but gracioujly be pleated 
to think a hardfliip of this nature worthy her royal con- 
fideration. Swift. —In a pleating manner. 
GRA'CIOUSNESS, f. Kind condefcenfion.—The 
^racioufnefs and temper of this anfwer made noimpreffion 
on them. Clarendon. —Pleating manner. 
GRAC'ULA, [Lat. fo named from its cry.] In orni¬ 
thology, the grakle ; a genus of birds-belonging to the 
order of picae ; the charafters of which are : bill con¬ 
vex, knife-lhaped, naked at the bate : tongue entire, 
enlarged and tlefiiy; feet ambulatory. None of thefe 
birds have been found to inhabit Europe. They are 
remarkable for their thick bill, comprelfcdat the tides ; 
their minute noftrils placed at its bate; their hooked 
lharp nails ; and the middle toe of their fore feet con¬ 
nected at the bate with the exterior one. There are 
thirteen Ipecies now afeertained, betides Varieties. 
I. Gracula religiofa, the minor grakle ; plumage vio¬ 
let, black, with a fine glols on the upper-part of the 
body ; the throat, wings, and tail, enriched with green 
Vol. VIII. No. 543. 
757 
and violet reflections ; and it has a white fpot on the 
wings. What is moft remarkable, is a double yellov/ 
comb, irregularly jagged, which rites on each fide of 
the head, behind the eye ; the two parts recline and ap¬ 
proach each other, and on the back of the head they 
are parted only by a bar of lon^ narrow feathers, which 
begins at the bafe of the bill ; the other feathers on tlie 
crown of the head form a fort of black velvet; the leg.s 
are of a tawny yellow. It feeds on fruit, and is eiglit 
inches long. This fpecies abounds in Afia, and is found 
in almofi: every ifle beyond the Ganges. It is a very 
tame and familiar bird ; and, like the parrot, will foon 
learn to talk. There is a larger variety, which differs 
onTy in fize, and in flight variations of colour. 
2. Gracula calva, the bald grakle : upper part of the. 
body light filver-grey, tail and wings darker, each eye 
encircled by a cere entirely bare, and forming an irre¬ 
gular ellipfe ; the under part of the body is brown, 
varied with white fpots; the naked fkin which fur- 
rounds the eyes is flefii-coloured ; the bill, legs, and 
nails, black. It has the name of goulin in the Philijp- 
pine iflands, where it very much abounds. 
3. Gracula criftatella, the crefted grakle: this is 
larger than the preceding ; ahnoft all its plumage is 
black, with a dull bluifii tint ; a white Ipot appears 
in the middle of the wings, and a little wliite on the 
tips of the lateral quills of the tail ; the bill and legs arc 
yellow, and the iris of a fine orange. It has a fmall 
tuft of feathers on the forehead, forming a creft, which 
it can eredt at pleafure. Thefe birds are natives of 
China, where they are much efieenied, and the figures 
of them are frequently feen in Chinefe paintings and pa¬ 
per-hangings. 
4. Gracula barita, the boat-tailed grakle : about the 
fize of a cuckow ; bill fharp, black, and an inch and a 
half in length ; the general colour of the plumage is 
black, with a glofs of purple ; legs and claws black, 
the latter hooked. It has a great fingularity in the 
folding up of the tail-feathers, which, iiifiead of form¬ 
ing a plain furface at top, fink into a hollow like a deep 
gutter. It always carries its tail expanded when on the 
ground, and folds it up in the above manner only when 
perched, or flying. It inhabits Jamaica; and feeds on 
maize, and other infedts, as well as on the fruit of the 
banana. It is likewife common in North America, 
where it breeds in thefwamps, and migrates in Septem¬ 
ber, after which none are feen. 
5. Gracula quifcala, the purple grakle; plumage 
black, but moft beautifully and richly glolTed with pur¬ 
ple, efpecially on the head and neck. The female is 
w'holly of a brown colour, deepeft on the wings and tail. 
This f^pecies inhabits Carolina, Mexico, and other parts 
of North America; alfo Jamaica; and the Weft-India 
iflands. Thefe birds are very deftrudhive to the fields of 
maize. They build in trees; and are laid to pafs the 
winter in fwamps which are quite overgrown with wood, 
from thence only appearing in mild weather; and, after 
the maize is got in, are content to feed on aquatic tare- 
grafs, buck-wheat, and oats; yet they are laid alfo to de- 
ftroy that pernicious infedt the bruchus pifi. There is a 
pied variety of this fpecies, with the head and breaft 
white; quill-feathers and tail black ; found in Mexico. 
6. Gracula feetida, the fetid grakle : plumage black ; 
quill-feathers bluifh ; band round the neck naked ; head 
with eredt fhort filky feathers ; bill like that of the cuc¬ 
kow ; noftrils oval, naked ; tongue lharp ; tail even. 
Inhabits America: fize of a magpie. 
7. Gracula faularis, the dial grakle: upper parts 
bluiih-black; belly, fpot on the wingS, and lateral 
tail-feathers, white. Inhabits Bengal : fize of a thrulh. 
8. Gracula Atthis, the Egyptian grakle: fuperior 
part of the body greenifh-blue; belly, ferruginous ; legs, 
blood-red. Neck with a longitudinal rufty line at the 
fides. Inhabits Egypt; four inches long ; feeds on in¬ 
fedts. 
9. Gracula longiroftra, the long-billed grakle : .body 
9 G brown ^ 
