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ibis

(Encyclopedia)ibis īˈbĭs [key], common name for wading birds with long, slender, decurved bills, found in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. The body is usually about 2 ft (61 cm) long. Most ibises nest in ...

jay

(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, Cyanocitta cristata...

grosbeak

(Encyclopedia)grosbeak grōsˈbēk [key] [great beak], common name for various members of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Grosbeaks are characterized by their large conical bills. The male rose-breasted gro...

Spalding, Albert Goodwill

(Encyclopedia)Spalding, Albert Goodwill, 1849–1915, American baseball player and business executive, b. Byron, Ill. He played as an amateur for the Rockford, Ill., Forest Citys (1866–68) and then was paid unoff...

squill

(Encyclopedia)squill, common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla, mostly spring-blooming low herbs wit...

Tombaugh, Clyde William

(Encyclopedia)Tombaugh, Clyde William tŏmˈbô [key], 1906–97, American astronomer, b. Streator, Ill. Although lacking formal training or a college degree, he was hired in 1929 as an assistant by the Lowell Obse...

Friel, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Friel, Brian frēl [key], 1929–2015, Irish playwright, b. Killyglogher, Northern Ireland. Treating themes that enmesh both Irelands, he became the most acclaimed Irish dramatist of the late 20th cen...

Merrimack, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Merrimack, river, c.110 mi (180 km) long, formed at Franklin, S central N.H., by the junction of the Pemigewasset (rising in the White Mts.) and Winnipesaukee rivers. It flows S past Concord and Manch...

Croatoan

(Encyclopedia)Croatoan, unexplained letters found (1590) carved on a tree on Roanoke Island off North Carolina by Gov. John White when he returned to the colony from England and discovered the colonists gone. White...

potassium carbonate

(Encyclopedia)potassium carbonate, chemical compound, K2CO3, white, crystalline, deliquescent substance that forms a strongly alkaline water solution. It is available commercially as a white, granular powder common...