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junco

(Encyclopedia)junco or snowbird, small seed-eating bird of North America closely related to the sparrows. Juncos have white underparts and gray (sometimes also brown) backs. They travel in flocks. The dark-eyed jun...

ambergris

(Encyclopedia)ambergris ămˈbərgrēs [key], waxlike substance originating as a morbid concretion in the intestine of the sperm whale. Lighter than water, it is found floating on tropical seas or cast up on the sh...

Shannon, Charles Haslewood

(Encyclopedia)Shannon, Charles Haslewood or Hazelwood, 1865–1937, English portrait and figure painter, etcher, and lithographer. He was an aesthete and lifelong companion of fellow artist Charles Ricketts, who in...

Perceval, Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Perceval, Spencer, 1762–1812, British statesman. He had a profitable law practice before he entered the House of Commons as a Tory in 1796. He was solicitor general (1801–2), attorney general (180...

wirehaired pointing griffon

(Encyclopedia)wirehaired pointing griffon, breed of medium-sized sporting dog developed in Holland and France in the late 19th cent. It stands about 22 in. (56 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs between 45 and 60 ...

tanzanite

(Encyclopedia)tanzanite tănzănˈīt [key], beautiful gemstone discovered in 1967 in the Umba Valley near the Usambara Mts. in Tanzania, a precious variety of the mineral zoisite, a calcium aluminum silicate. Zois...

bushmaster

(Encyclopedia)bushmaster, large venomous snake, Lachesis muta, of Central America and N South America. It is a member of the pit viper family, which also includes the rattlesnake. The largest New World snake, it re...

Bryan, William Jennings

(Encyclopedia)Bryan, William Jennings brīˈən [key], 1860–1925, American political leader, b. Salem, Ill. Although the nation consistently rejected him for the presidency, it eventually adopted many of the refo...

mullet

(Encyclopedia)mullet, blunt-nosed, tropical and temperate water fishes of the family Mugilidae, found worldwide. Small schools of mullets frequent shallow waters, feeding on aquatic plants and on mud, which is grou...

galena

(Encyclopedia)galena gəlēˈnə [key] or lead glance, lustrous, blue-gray mineral crystallizing usually in cubes, sometimes in octahedrons. It is the most important ore and the principal source of lead. It consist...