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Darwin's finches

(Encyclopedia)Darwin's finches or Galapagos finches gəläˈpəgōsˌ [key], species of small perching birds, constituting the subfamily Geospizinae of the tanager family. Not related to the true finches, this grou...

oxpecker

(Encyclopedia)oxpecker, common name for an African starling of the genus Buphagus. Also known as tickbirds, oxpeckers have very short legs and sharp claws, which aid them in perching on the backs of large mammals, ...

honeyeater

(Encyclopedia)honeyeater or honeysucker, common name for arboreal birds comprising some 160 species of the family Meliphagidae, and found in Australia, New Zealand, and the SW Pacific. There is a single South Ameri...

subtreasury

(Encyclopedia)subtreasury. After President Andrew Jackson vetoed (July 10, 1832) the bill to recharter the Second Bank of the United States, the deposits were removed and placed in state banks that came to be calle...

Bright, John

(Encyclopedia)Bright, John, 1811–89, British statesman and orator. He was the son of a Quaker cotton manufacturer in Lancashire. A founder (1839) of the Anti-Corn Law League, he rose to prominence on the strength...

Pence, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Pence, Mike (Michael Richard Pence), 1959–, Vice President of the United States (2017–21), b. Columbus, Ind., grad. Hanover College, 1981, Indiana Univ. law school, 1986. A Republican, he twice ra...

reclamation of land

(Encyclopedia)reclamation of land, practice of converting land deemed unproductive into arable land by such methods as irrigation, drainage, flood control, altering the texture and mineral and organic content of so...

Parnell, Charles Stewart

(Encyclopedia)Parnell, Charles Stewart pärˈnəl, pärnĕlˈ [key], 1846–91, Irish nationalist leader. Haughty and sensitive, Parnell was only a mediocre orator, but he possessed a marked personal fascination an...

Madison, James

(Encyclopedia)Madison, James, 1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. When Jefferson triumphed in the election of 1800, Madison became (1801) his secretary of state. He se...