(Encyclopedia) jay, common name for a number of birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays), found in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The best-known representatives in America are the blue jay,…
(Encyclopedia) grosbeakgrosbeakgrōsˈbēk [key] [great beak], common name for various members of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Grosbeaks are characterized by their large conical bills. The…
(Encyclopedia) swan, common name for a large aquatic bird of both hemispheres, related to ducks and geese. It has a long, gracefully curved neck and an extremely long, convoluted trachea which makes…
Day-to-day news from Beijing by Liz Olson, Mark Hughes, Chris Warner, and Beth Rowen Top Medal Count*United States: 110China: 100Russia: 72 Friday, Aug. 8 The 2008 Summer…
(Encyclopedia) potato beetle, name for two beetles of the leaf beetle family and for two of the blister beetle family, all destructive to the potato plant and its relatives. Most notorious is the…
"It Cuts Both Ways" I'm sure that you've heard about the proof that Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his slave, Sally Hemings... Bebe Moore Campbell, the novelist, said in a commentary…
(Encyclopedia) KrasnodarKrasnodarkrəsˌnədärˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 621,000), capital of Krasnodar Territory, SE European Russia, on the Kuban River. A river port and railroad junction, it has…
(Encyclopedia) Hitchings, George Herbert, 1905–98, American pharmacologist, b. Hoquiam, Wash., Ph.D. Harvard, 1933. Hitchings spent most of his career at Burroughs Wellcome Laboratories (1942–75),…
