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skylark

(Encyclopedia)skylark, common name for a passerine songbird (Alauda arvensis) famous for the soaring, melodious flight of the courting male. Found in Europe (except in the Mediterranean area), it is 71⁄4 in. (18....

Medes

(Encyclopedia)Medes: see Media, ancient country of W Asia. ...

bluegrass music

(Encyclopedia)bluegrass music: see country and western music. ...

refugee

(Encyclopedia)refugee, one who leaves one's native land either because of expulsion or to escape persecution. The legal problem of accepting refugees is discussed under asylum; this article considers only mass disl...

prime minister

(Encyclopedia)prime minister or premier, chief member of the cabinet in a parliamentary system of government. The prime minister is head of the government, in contrast with the head of state, who may be a constitut...

Gilded Age

(Encyclopedia)Gilded Age, a term used to describe a period in United States history—from roughly 1870 to 1900—when the wealthy elite consisted of industrialists w...

folk song

(Encyclopedia)folk song, music of anonymous composition, transmitted orally. The theory that folk songs were originally group compositions has been modified in recent studies. These assume that the germ of a folk m...

Biafra, Republic of

(Encyclopedia)Biafra, Republic of, secessionist state of W Africa, in existence from May 30, 1967, to Jan. 15, 1970. At the outset Biafra comprised, roughly, the East-Central, South-Eastern, and Rivers states of th...

balance of trade

(Encyclopedia)balance of trade, relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theoris...

Bartholomew I

(Encyclopedia)Bartholomew I, 1940–, Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, b. Imvros, Turkey, as Dimitrios Archondonis. He attended theological seminary in İstanbul and later studied in Rome, Switzerland, and Ger...