[1] By some writers the birds of the genera _Acridotheres_ and _Temenuchus_ are considered to be the true mynas, and the species of _Gracula_ are called "hill mynas" by way of distinction.
[2] For a valuable monograph on the various species of _Gracula_ and its allies see Professor Schlegel's "Bijdrage tot de Kennis von het Geschlacht Beo'" (_Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor de Dierkunde_ i. 1-9).
GRADISCA, a town of Austria, in the province of Görz and Gradisca, 10 m. S.W. of Görz by rail. Pop. (1900) 3843, mostly Italians. It is situated on the right bank of the Isonzo and was formerly a strongly fortified place. Its principal industry is silk spinning. Gradisca originally formed part of the margraviate of Friuli, came under the patriarchate of Aquileia in 1028, and in 1420 to Venice. Between 1471 and 1481 Gradisca was fortified by the Venetians, but in 1511 they surrendered it to the emperor Maximilian I. In 1647 Gradisca and its territory, including Aquileia and forty-three smaller places, were erected into a separate countship in favour of Johann Anton von Eggenberg, duke of Krumau. On the extinction of his line in 1717, it reverted to Austria, and was completely incorporated with Görz in 1754. The name was revived by the constitution of 1861, which established the crownland of Görz and Gradisca.
GRADO, a town of northern Spain, in the province of Oviedo; 11 m. W. by N. of the city of Oviedo, on the river Cubia, a left-hand tributary of the Nalon. Pop. (1900) 17,125. Grado is built in the midst of a mountainous, well-wooded and fertile region. It has some trade in timber, live stock, cider and agricultural produce. The nearest railway station is that of the Fabrica de Trubia, a royal cannon-foundry and small-arms factory, 5 m. S.E.
GRADUAL (Med. Lat. _gradualis_, of or belonging to steps or degrees; _gradus_, step), advancing or taking place by degrees or step by step; hence used of a slow progress or a gentle declivity or slope, opposed to steep or precipitous. As a substantive, "gradual" (Med. Lat. _graduale_ or _gradale_) is used of a service book or antiphonal of the Roman Catholic Church containing certain antiphons, called "graduals," sung at the service of the Mass after the reading or singing of the Epistle. This antiphon received the name either because it was sung on the steps of the altar or while the deacon was mounting the steps of the ambo for the reading or singing of the Gospel. For the so-called Gradual Psalms, cxx.-cxxxiv., the "songs of degrees," LXX. [Greek: ôdê ana bathmôn], see PSALMS, BOOK OF.