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epiphyte

(Encyclopedia)epiphyte ĕpˈəfītˌ [key] or air plant, any plant that does not normally root in the soil but grows upon another living plant while remaining independent of it except for support (thus differing fr...

Lustig, Arnošt

(Encyclopedia)Lustig, Arnošt, 1926–2011, Czech writer, b. Prague. The more than 20 works of fiction that Lustig wrote often mirror his Holocaust experiences. From a Jewish family, he was sent to the first of sev...

Lang, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Lang, Andrew, 1844–1912, English scholar and man of letters, b. Scotland. His poetry, much of it written in the forms of ballades, triolets, and rondeaux, appeared in such volumes as his Ballads in ...

kinglet

(Encyclopedia)kinglet, common name for members of a subfamily of five species of Old and New World warblers, similar to the thrushes and the Old World flycatchers. Kinglets are small birds (4 in./10 cm) with soft, ...

tanager

(Encyclopedia)tanager tănˈəjər [key], any of the small, migratory perching birds of the family Thraupidae, chiefly of the tropical New World. Only five species migrate to North America; of these the scarlet tan...

Tarleton, Sir Banastre

(Encyclopedia)Tarleton, Sir Banastre băˈnəstər tärlˈtən [key], 1754–1833, British army officer in the American Revolution. He arrived (1775) in America with General Cornwallis and was a member of the patro...

Williams, Eleazer

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Eleazer ĕlēāˈzər [key], c.1787–1858, missionary among Native North Americans. He was the son of Thomas Williams, a St. Regis Native American chief, and a white woman; he was educated ...

bee-eater

(Encyclopedia)bee-eater, any of the brightly colored, insect-eating birds of the family Meropidae. They range in length from 6 to 14 in. (15–36 cm). The plumage of many species is predominantly green but usually ...

topaz

(Encyclopedia)topaz tōˈpăz [key], aluminum silicate mineral with either hydroxyl radicals or fluorine, Al2SiO4(F,OH)2, used as a gem. It is commonly colorless or some shade of pale yellow to wine-yellow; pale bl...

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