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kingfisher

(Encyclopedia)kingfisher, common name for members of the family Alcedinidae, essentially tropical and subtropical land birds, related to the bee-eaters, rollers, and todies. Kingfishers have chunky bodies, short ne...

redstart

(Encyclopedia)redstart, common name for an Old World thrush of the genus Phoenicurus, family Turdidae. A small, slender-legged songbird, it is found in woodlands, parks, and heaths. The European redstart, P. phoeni...

Varnhagen von Ense, Karl August

(Encyclopedia)Varnhagen von Ense, Karl August kärl ouˈgo͝ost färnˈhägən fən ĕnˈzə [key], 1785–1858, German poet, historian, and journalist. He collaborated with Chamisso and other writers and wrote Bio...

badger

(Encyclopedia)badger, name for several related members of the weasel family. Most badgers are large, nocturnal, burrowing animals, with broad, heavy bodies, long snouts, large, sharp claws, and long, grizzled fur. ...

Garshin, Vsevolod Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Garshin, Vsevolod Mikhailovich fəsyĕˈvələt mēkhīˈləvĭch gärˈshĭn [key], 1855–88, Russian short-story writer. “Four Days” (1877), his story of a wounded soldier's ordeal in battle, f...

Stafford, Humphrey, 1st duke of Buckingham

(Encyclopedia)Stafford, Humphrey, 1st duke of Buckingham, 1402–60, English nobleman. He succeeded his father as earl of Stafford in 1403. He inherited the title of earl of Buckingham through his mother, Anne, cou...

Sac and Fox

(Encyclopedia)Sac and Fox, closely related Native Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Sac and Fox culture was of the Eastern Woodlands are...

guide dog

(Encyclopedia)guide dog, a dog trained to lead a blind person. The first school for training such dogs was established by the German government after World War I for the benefit of blinded veterans. Schools now exi...

Bellegarde, Heinrich, Count von

(Encyclopedia)Bellegarde, Heinrich, Count von hīnˈrĭkh, fən bĕlgärdˈ [key], 1756–1845, Austrian soldier and statesman. He fought against the French in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in German...

Gunnlaugsson, Sigmundur Davíð

(Encyclopedia)Gunnlaugsson, Sigmundur Davíð, 1975–, Icelandic political leader. He worked as a journalist and comedian for Iceland's national radio before he joined the conservative Progressive party and entere...
 

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