Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

428 results found

Ellsworth, Lincoln

(Encyclopedia)Ellsworth, Lincoln, 1880–1951, American explorer, b. Chicago, Ill. He was a surveyor and engineer in railroad building and later a prospector and mining engineer in NW Canada. He became the financia...

jumping mouse

(Encyclopedia)jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

phalarope

(Encyclopedia)phalarope fălˈərōpˌ [key], common name for members of the family Phalaropodidae, shore birds, called “little swimming sandpipers.” Phalaropes, small, dainty birds with webbed toes, are the mo...

pipit

(Encyclopedia)pipit, common name for a group of chiefly Eurasian and African birds that together with the wagtails constitute a subfamily of songbirds related to the Old World warblers and thrushes. Pipits are trim...

Walvis Bay

(Encyclopedia)Walvis Bay wôlˈvĭs [key], municipality (1991 pop. 12,100), W central Namibia, on Walvis Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Walvis Bay is Namibia's most important port and the terminus of a railroad...

blenny

(Encyclopedia)blenny, common name of various species of extremely numerous small fishes belonging to the suborders Blennioidei (blennies) and Notothenioidei (Antarctic blennies). They are characterized by elongated...

Tierra del Fuego

(Encyclopedia)Tierra del Fuego tyĕˈrä dĕl fwāˈgō [key], [Span.,=land of fire], archipelago, 28,476 sq mi (73,753 sq km), off S South America, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. It consist...

Timor

(Encyclopedia)Timor tēˈmôr [key] [Malay,=east], island (1990 est. pop. 3,900,000), c.13,200 sq mi/34,200 sq km, largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sundas, in the Malay Archipelago. Timor is divided politicall...

honey buzzard

(Encyclopedia)honey buzzard, common name for several medium-sized, buzzardlike hawks (genus Pernis) of Eurasia and Africa. The European honey buzzard, Pernis apivorus, is predominantly reddish brown, and its tail i...

Johor

(Encyclopedia)Johor or Johore jōhôrˈ, jə– [key], state (1991 pop. 2,074,297), 7,360 sq mi (19,062 sq km), at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, Malaysia, opposite Singapore. It is largely covered ...

Browse by Subject