(Encyclopedia) Arden, JohnArden, Johnärˈdən [key], 1930–2012, English playwright and novelist best known for his politically engaged work of the 1950s and 60s, a period during which he was considered…
(Encyclopedia) shearwater, common name for members of the family Procellariidae, gull-like sea birds related to the petrel and the albatross and including the fulmar. Shearwaters are found on…
(Encyclopedia) crossbill, bird of the genus Loxia, in the finch family. Its bill, crossed at the tips, is specialized for pulling apart pine cones and picking out the seeds. Crossbills are found in…
(Encyclopedia) giant pouched rat, terrestrial African rodent of the genus Cricetomys. Found in a wide variety of habitats, including farmland, in sub-Saharan Africa north of South Africa, giant…
(Encyclopedia) decadents, in literature, name loosely applied to those 19th-century, fin-de-siècle European authors who sought inspiration, both in their lives and in their writings, in aestheticism…
(Encyclopedia) dingodingodĭngˈgō [key], wild dog (Canis lupus dingo) of Australia, believed to have been introduced thousands of years ago from SE Asia by the aboriginal settlers of that continent;…
(Encyclopedia) triggerfish, any of several species of tropical reef fishes with laterally compressed bodies, heavy scales, and tough skins. They are named for the mechanism of the three spines of the…
(Encyclopedia) Gascoigne, GeorgeGascoigne, Georgegăskoinˈ [key], c.1539–1577, English author, a pioneer in various fields of English literature. A reckless, dissipated youth, he left Cambridge…
(Encyclopedia) harp seal, crested earless, or true, seal, Phoca groenlandica, found in the N Atlantic around Greenland and the White Sea. In the spring, harp seals migrate southward to assemble in…
(Encyclopedia) piculetpiculetpĭkˈyələt [key], common name for a small bird of the family Picidae, which includes the woodpecker and the wryneck. Like the true woodpeckers, piculets are large-headed…
