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bluebird

(Encyclopedia)bluebird, common name for a North American migratory bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family). The eastern bluebird, Sialia sialis, is among the first spring arrivals in the North. It is about 7 in...

Beskids

(Encyclopedia)Beskids bĕskēˈdē [key], mountain range of the Carpathians, extending c.200 mi (320 km) along Poland's border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The highest peak, Babia Góra (Slovak Babí Hora)...

sky

(Encyclopedia)sky, apparent dome over the earth, background of the clouds, sun, moon, and stars. The blue color of the clear daytime sky results from the selective scattering of light rays by the minute particles o...

Tatra

(Encyclopedia)Tatra –trəz [key], Pol. and Slovak Tatry, highest group of the Carpathian mountain system, in E central Europe. The High Tatra (Slovak Vysoké Tatry, Pol. Tatry Wysokie) extends c.40 mi (60 km) alo...

Seram

(Encyclopedia)Seram, formerly Ceram both: sāˈräm [key], island, c.6,600 sq mi (17,100 sq km), E Indonesia, W of New Guinea, second largest of the Moluccas; also called Seran or Serang. Its chief port and town is...

Cévennes

(Encyclopedia)Cévennes sāvĕnˈ [key], mountain range, S France, bordering the Massif Central on the southeast. The Cévennes proper occupy the central section of a mountainous arc (average height 3,000 ft/910 m)...

Baguio

(Encyclopedia)Baguio băˈgēō, Sp. bägyōˈ [key], city, Benguet prov., NW Luzon, the Philippine...

Polk, Leonidas

(Encyclopedia)Polk, Leonidas, 1806–64, American Episcopal bishop and Confederate general in the Civil War, b. Raleigh, N.C. He left the army to study for the ministry and was ordained in 1831. He served as missio...

Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien

(Encyclopedia)Vergniaud, Pierre Victurnien pyĕr vēktürnyăNˈ vĕrnyōˈ [key], 1753–93, French revolutionary. A brilliant lawyer, he gained attention (1790) when defending peasants who had burned a castle. El...

Denali

(Encyclopedia)Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, peak, 20,310 ft (6,190 m) high, S central Alaska, in the Alaska Range; highest point in North America. Permanent snowfields cover more than half the mountain and feed ...