bird rug, floor covering woven in western Turkey, carrying on an ivory ground a repeating pattern in which leaflike figures, erroneously described as birds, cluster around stylized flowers. The rugs first appear in Western paintings in the 16th century and were probably not woven after the 18th

birdsong, certain vocalizations of birds, characteristic of males during the breeding season, for the attraction of a mate and for territorial defense. Songs tend to be more complex and longer than birdcalls, used for communication within a species. Songs are the vocalizations of birds most

bird stone, abstract stone carving, one of the most striking artifacts left by the prehistoric North American Indians who inhabited the area east of the Mississippi River in the United States and parts of eastern Canada. The stones resemble birds and rarely exceed 6 inches (15 cm) in length. The

molding: Compound or composite: (3) A bird’s beak, or thumb, molding is essentially similar to the cyma reversa, except that the upper convexity is separated from the lower concavity by a sharp edge. (4) A keel molding is a projection, which resembles the keel of a ship, consisting of a pointed…

Meena Alexander: Her poetry collections included The Bird’s Bright Ring (1976), I Root My Name (1977), Without Place (1978), Stone Roots (1980), House of a Thousand Doors (1988), and The Storm: A Poem in Five Parts (1989). She also wrote a one-act play, In the Middle Earth (1977); a

Beijing National Stadium, stadium in Beijing that was designed by architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron and architect Li Xinggang of China Architectural Design and Research Group. The artist and activist Ai Weiwei served as artistic adviser to the project. Completed in 2008, the stadium was the main

Basidiomycota: The common name bird’s nest fungus includes species of the genera Crucibulum, Cyathus, and Nidularia of the family Nidulariaceae (order Agaricales), which contains about 60 species. The hollow fruiting body resembles a nest containing eggs (peridioles). The peridioles carry the spores when they disperse at maturity.

bird’s-foot trefoil, (Lotus corniculatus), perennial herbaceous plant of the pea family (Fabaceae). Bird’s-foot trefoil is native to Europe and Asia and has been introduced to other regions. Often used as forage for cattle, it is occasionally a troublesome weed. A double-flowered form has been

viola: Major species: …violet (Viola sororia) and the bird’s-foot violet (V. pedata). The common blue violet grows up to 20 cm (8 inches) tall and has heart-shaped leaves with finely toothed margins. The flowers range in colour from light to deep violet, or they may be white. The bird’s-foot violet, a perennial named…

bird’s-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis), nonphotosynthetic orchid (family Orchidaceae) native to Europe and North Africa. The bird’s-nest orchid lacks chlorophyll and obtains its food from decaying organic material with the help of mycorrhizae. The short underground stem and the mass of roots that

swiftlet: …saliva, is the basis of bird’s-nest soup; and, with the oilbird (q.v.), certain swiftlets are the only birds known to use echolocation to find their way around dark caverns, as do bats. The swiftlet’s “sonar” consists of clicking sounds at frequencies of 1,500 to 5,500 hertz—audible to the human ear.…

Andrew Bird is an American pop songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his virtuosic skill on the violin, which he often sampled and looped onstage, and for his meticulously crafted songs that combine wistful melodies with hyperliterate lyrics. Bird was immersed in music from early

The Incredibles: …was directed and written by Brad Bird, whose previous credits included the television show The Simpsons and the film The Iron Giant (1999). Craig T. Nelson provided the voice of Bob Parr, also known as the superhumanly strong Mr. Incredible, and Holly Hunter played his wife, Helen, who used her…

Kenneth Bird was a British cartoonist who, particularly in Punch, created warmhearted social comedies, using little stick figures to convey his point. Originally a civil engineer, Bird was with the Royal Engineers during World War I. He decided on a drawing career after a shell fractured his spine

Western sculpture: England: …English sculpture as represented by Francis Bird, Edward Stanton, and even the internationally renowned woodcarver Grinling Gibbons remained unexceptional. It was not until John Michael Rysbrack from Antwerp settled in England in c. 1720, followed by the Frenchman Louis-François Roubillac in c. 1732, that two sculptors of European stature were…

Kenneth Bird was a British cartoonist who, particularly in Punch, created warmhearted social comedies, using little stick figures to convey his point. Originally a civil engineer, Bird was with the Royal Engineers during World War I. He decided on a drawing career after a shell fractured his spine

Larry Bird is an American basketball player who led the Boston Celtics to three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time. Bird was raised in French Lick, Indiana, and attended Indiana State University,

Larry Bird is an American basketball player who led the Boston Celtics to three National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (1981, 1984, and 1986) and is considered one of the greatest pure shooters of all time. Bird was raised in French Lick, Indiana, and attended Indiana State University,

Baldwin Spencer: …(ALP), and then his son Lester Bird (1994–2004).

Robert Montgomery Bird was a novelist and dramatist whose work epitomizes the nascent American literature of the first half of the 19th century. Although immensely popular in his day—one of his tragedies, The Gladiator, achieved more than 1,000 performances in Bird’s lifetime—his writings are

dinosaur: Herding behaviour: Trackways were first noted by Roland T. Bird in the early 1940s along the Paluxy riverbed in central Texas, U.S., where numerous washbasin-size depressions proved to be a series of giant sauropod footsteps preserved in limestone of the Early Cretaceous Period (145 million to 100.5 million years ago). Because the…

Rose Elizabeth Bird was the chief justice of the California Supreme Court from 1977 to 1987. Bird was both the first woman to serve on that court and the first to serve as chief justice. Bird spent her early life in Arizona before moving in 1950 with her mother and two siblings to New York City,

Widely recognized as one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time, Sue Bird is the only player to win a WNBA championship in three different decades. One of the most decorated basketball players ever, the 5-foot 9-inch (1.75-meter) powerhouse is considered the greatest point guard in

dinosaur: Tetanurae: Ornithomimids were medium-size to large theropods. Almost all of them were toothless, and apparently their jaws were covered by a horny beak; they also had very long legs and arms. A well-known example is Struthiomimus. Most were ostrich-sized and were adapted for fast running, with…

bird-of-paradise, (family Paradisaeidae), any of approximately 45 species of small to medium-sized forest birds (order Passeriformes). They are rivalled only by a few pheasants and hummingbirds in colour and in the bizarre shape of the males’ plumage. Courting males perform for hours on a chosen

bird-of-paradise flower: Other species: The desert bird-of-paradise, or bird-of-paradise bush (Erythrostemon gilliesii), is an unrelated shrub of the pea family (Fabaceae) native to South America and naturalized elsewhere. The dwarf poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), a showy tree grown throughout the American tropics and subtropics, is sometimes known as the Mexican bird-of-paradise…

bird-of-paradise flower, (Strelitzia reginae), ornamental plant of the family Strelitziaceae native to South Africa. The plant is grown outdoors in warm climates and as a houseplant for its attractive foliage and unusual flowers. It is named for its resemblance to the showy forest birds known as

bird-watching, the observation of live birds in their natural habitat, a popular pastime and scientific sport that developed almost entirely in the 20th century. In the 19th century almost all students of birds used guns and could identify an unfamiliar species only when its corpse was in their

Harriet Mann Miller: In 1885 Miller published Bird-Ways, the first of a series of books on birds for adults and children that became widely popular. In the course of the series her reliance on firsthand field observation and her ability to convey a sense of nature’s wonder both grew apace. Miller’s other…

Elaine May: …the screenplay for the movie The Birdcage (1996) and wrote the script for Primary Colors (1998), both of which Nichols directed; she won an Oscar nomination for the latter. She also acted in Allen’s comedy Small Time Crooks (2000).

badminton: …with lightweight rackets and a shuttlecock. The roots of the sport can be traced to the old game battledore and shuttlecock, which was played in ancient Greece, China, and India. The game was taken from India to England, where it was first played in Gloucestershire, at the country estate of…

bird-watching, the observation of live birds in their natural habitat, a popular pastime and scientific sport that developed almost entirely in the 20th century. In the 19th century almost all students of birds used guns and could identify an unfamiliar species only when its corpse was in their

Charlie Parker: A Broadway nightclub, Birdland, was named after him, and he performed there on opening night in late 1949; Birdland became the most famous of 1950s jazz clubs.

BirdLife International, worldwide alliance of nongovernmental organizations that promotes the conservation of birds and their habitats. The group was established in London in 1922 by ornithologist and conservationist T. Gilbert Pearson under the name International Committee for Bird Protection. The

Birdman of Alcatraz, American dramatic film, released in 1962, that made a household name of convicted murderer Robert Stroud, the so-called “Birdman of Alcatraz.” The film is a sentimentalized look at Stroud (played by Burt Lancaster), who became a self-taught ornithologist during his 54 years in

Robert Stroud was an American criminal, a convicted murderer who became a self-taught ornithologist during his 54 years in prison, 42 of them in solitary confinement, and made notable contributions to the study of birds. At the age of 13 Stroud ran away from home, and by the age of 18 he was in

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), American satiric film, released in 2014, that won four Academy Awards, including that for best picture. A complex and quirky movie, it was hailed as a masterpiece by many critics, though some viewers found it pretentious and puzzling. Birdman or (The

Birds, drama by Aristophanes, produced in 414 bce. Some critics regard Birds as a pure fantasy, but others see it as a political satire on the imperialistic dreams that had led the Athenians to undertake their ill-fated expedition of 415 bce to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. The character

Clarence Birdseye: …1934 Birdseye was president of Birds Eye Frosted Foods and from 1935 to 1938 of Birdseye Electric Company.

Rebecca West: …The Fountain Overflows (1957), and The Birds Fall Down (1966).

Mary McCarthy: …other books include the novel Birds of America (1971); The Mask of State (1974), on the Watergate scandal; Cannibals and Missionaries (1979), a novel; and How I Grew (1987), a second volume of autobiography.

bird-watching: …and John James Audubon’s illustrated Birds of America (1827–38) and culminating in such essential aids in the field as H.F. Witherby’s five-volume Handbook of British Birds (1938–41) and Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds (1947), which gives the field marks of all North American birds found east of…

John Gould: …in Gould’s most famous work, The Birds of Australia, 7 vol. (1840–48; supplements 1851–69), and in Mammals of Australia, 3 vol. (1845–63). He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843.

John Gould: The five-volume Birds of Europe (1832–37) and Monograph of the Ramphastidae (Toucans) (1834) were so successful that the Goulds were able to spend two years (1838–40) in Australia, where they made a large collection of birds and mammals. The collection resulted in Gould’s most famous work, The…

Peter Matthiessen: …the protection of wildlife in The Birds of Heaven (2001), which details a journey across multiple continents in search of cranes, and Tigers in the Snow (2002), which chronicles the plight of the Siberian tiger. The Peter Matthiessen Reader: Nonfiction 1959–1991 was published in 2000.

Margot Robbie: From ice-skating as Tonya Harding to waltzing as Harley Quinn: …free of the Joker, in Birds of Prey (2020) and later in The Suicide Squad (2021). Both movies earned generally favorable reviews.

Black Canary: …a starring role in the Birds of Prey comic. In Birds of Prey Dinah Laurel Lance moved to Gotham City to join Oracle and Huntress in a mixture of crime busting and female empowerment. A television adaptation of Birds of Prey (2002) lasted only a single season and proved to…

D.H. Lawrence: Poetry and nonfiction of D.H. Lawrence: …his most original contribution is Birds, Beasts and Flowers (1923), in which he creates an unprecedented poetry of nature, based on his experiences of the Mediterranean scene and the American Southwest. In his Last Poems (1932) he contemplates death.

The Birds, novel by Tarjei Vesaas, published in 1957. Not to be confused with Daphne du Maurier’s short story and screenplay for Hitchcock’s avian-horror movieof the same title in English, The Birds (in Norwegian, Fuglane) is a far more restrained and poignant affair from one of Scandinavia’s

The Birds, American thriller film, released in 1963, that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and centres on a small northern California coastal town that is inexplicably attacked and rendered helpless by massive flocks of aggressive birds. (Read Alfred Hitchcock’s 1965 Britannica essay on film

Clarence Birdseye was an American businessman and inventor best known for developing a process for freezing foods in small packages suitable for retailing. Birdseye was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and from a young age was interested in the natural sciences. In 1906 he went to Amherst College to

birdsong, certain vocalizations of birds, characteristic of males during the breeding season, for the attraction of a mate and for territorial defense. Songs tend to be more complex and longer than birdcalls, used for communication within a species. Songs are the vocalizations of birds most

Birdsong, novel by Sebastian Faulks, published in 1993. Birdsong is a story of love and war. A mixture of fact and fiction, Faulks’s fourth novel was born of the fear that the First World War was passing out of collective consciousness. At one level, it upholds the promise “We Shall Remember Them,”

the Supremes: Not only were the Supremes the Motown label’s primary crossover act, they also helped change the public image of African Americans

Smarty Jones: …signs of tiring, however, and Birdstone (at 36–1 odds) began to creep up on him in the middle of the track with 14 mile to go. There was no stopping the challenger, who inched closer and closer and then finally swept by at the last second to win by a…

bird stone, abstract stone carving, one of the most striking artifacts left by the prehistoric North American Indians who inhabited the area east of the Mississippi River in the United States and parts of eastern Canada. The stones resemble birds and rarely exceed 6 inches (15 cm) in length. The

Simpson Desert: …of the desert is the Birdsville Track, which was used until the early 20th century by camel caravans led by Afghan traders.

bird-watching, the observation of live birds in their natural habitat, a popular pastime and scientific sport that developed almost entirely in the 20th century. In the 19th century almost all students of birds used guns and could identify an unfamiliar species only when its corpse was in their

Nicolas Cage: …Racing with the Moon and Birdy. Throughout the late 1980s he starred in numerous comedies, including Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona (1987), in which he played a small-time criminal who, along with his wife, a former police officer, kidnaps one of a set of…

William Wharton: …for his innovative first novel, Birdy (1979; filmed 1984), a critical and popular success.

double refraction, an optical property in which a single ray of unpolarized light entering an anisotropic medium is split into two rays, each traveling in a different direction. One ray (called the extraordinary ray) is bent, or refracted, at an angle as it travels through the medium; the other ray

Al-Bireh, town in the West Bank that is the capital of Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate of the Palestinian Authority. Pop. (2017) 45,975. Al-Bireh contains archaeological remains that date back to the Bronze Age (starting in 3000 bce). The oldest sites in the adjacent town of Ramallah go back to

warship: Biremes and triremes: The bireme (a ship with two banks of oars), probably adopted from the Phoenicians, followed and became the leading warship of the 8th century bce. Greek biremes were probably about 80 feet (24 metres) long with a maximum beam around 10 feet…

Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was the king of Nepal from 1972 to 2001, 10th in the line of monarchs in the Shah Dev family. Son of the crown prince (later, from 1955, king) Mahendra, Birendra was educated at St. Joseph’s College (Darjeeling, India), Eton College (England), Tokyo University (1967),

biretta, stiff square hat with three or four rounded ridges, worn by Roman Catholic, some Anglican, and some European Lutheran clergy for both liturgical and nonliturgical functions. A tassel or tuft is often attached. The color generally designates the wearer’s rank. A biretta with four ridges is

Bīrganj, town, southern Nepal, in the Terai, a low, fertile plain, near the Indian border. Southwest of Kāthmāndu, it is an important marketing centre (rice, wheat, barley, corn [maize], jute) and a terminus for the narrow-gauge railway running north to Amlekhganj and connecting with a ropeway

Birger Jarl was the virtual ruler of Sweden from 1248 until his death. Before 1238 Birger married Ingeborg (d. 1254), the sister of King Erik Eriksson (1222–50), and was created jarl (earl) of Sweden in 1248. When Erik died, leaving no son, Birger obtained the election as king of his own son

Birger Magnusson was the king of Sweden (1290–1318), son of Magnus I. He was nominally king under a regency during 1290–1302. He was crowned in 1302 and subsequently engaged in civil war with his brothers (1306–10). Later (1317–18), he had them imprisoned and killed but was himself driven into

Nubian languages: …Nubian) and in Darfur (where Birked [Birgid] and Midob [Midobi] are spoken). These languages are now considered to be a part of the Nilo-Saharan language family.

“Youngest,” “oldest,” “most,” and, finally, “greatest”: all of these superlatives have applied to German kayaker Birgit Fischer at one time or another. At age 18 she became the youngest-ever Olympic canoeing-kayaking champion when she won the gold medal in the 500-metre women’s singles kayak event

Plácido Domingo: …he was awarded the first Birgit Nilsson Prize for outstanding achievement in classical music. (The prize was to be awarded every second or third year in the amount of $1 million.) In 2013 Domingo was named the recipient of the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for music. In addition…

St. Bridget of Sweden ; canonized October 8, 1391; feast day July 23, formerly October 8) was the patron saint of Sweden, founder of the Bridgittines (Order of the Most Holy Savior), and a mystic whose revelations were influential during the Middle Ages. In 1999 Pope John Paul II named her one of

St. Bridget of Sweden ; canonized October 8, 1391; feast day July 23, formerly October 8) was the patron saint of Sweden, founder of the Bridgittines (Order of the Most Holy Savior), and a mystic whose revelations were influential during the Middle Ages. In 1999 Pope John Paul II named her one of

St. Bridget of Sweden ; canonized October 8, 1391; feast day July 23, formerly October 8) was the patron saint of Sweden, founder of the Bridgittines (Order of the Most Holy Savior), and a mystic whose revelations were influential during the Middle Ages. In 1999 Pope John Paul II named her one of

Vittoriosa, town, eastern Malta, one of the Three Cities (the others being Cospicua and Senglea). It is situated on a small peninsula, just south of Valletta across Grand Harbour. Originally known as Il Borgo, and then Birgu, it was one of the most important towns in medieval Malta. In 1530, when

coconut crab, (Birgus latro), large nocturnal land crab of the southwest Pacific and Indian oceans. It is closely related to the hermit crab and king crab. All are decapod crustaceans (order Decapoda, class Crustacea). Adult coconut crabs are about 1 metre (40 inches) from leg tip to leg tip and

totemism: Birhor: The Birhor, a people that were traditionally residents of the jungle of Chotanagpur Plateau in the northeast Deccan (India), are organized into patrilineal, exogamous totem groups. According to one imperfect list of 37 clans, 12 are based on animals, 10 on plants, 8 on…

Rollinia: pulchrinervis), both called biriba by some authorities, are cultivated for their fruit. Most species of Rollinia are spined or segmented, green-skinned, small trees, with soft fruits about 7.6 cm (3 inches) across. The flowers have three spurlike outside petals and three minute inner petals.

Vannoccio Biringuccio was an Italian metallurgist and armament maker, chiefly known as the author of De la pirotechnia (1540; “Concerning Pyrotechnics”), the first clear, comprehensive work on metallurgy. As a youth Biringuccio enjoyed the patronage of Pandolfo Petrucci (1450–1511), the dictator of

biritch, card game similar to bridge whist and a forerunner of auction and contract bridge. Apparently developed in the eastern Mediterranean region, where it was known as khedive, it became popular in Greece and Egypt and, under the name of biritch, on the French Riviera in the last quarter of the

Bīrjand, capital of South Khorasan province, eastern Iran, built on low hills in a barren valley 4,774 feet (1,455 metres) above sea level. The town, divided by the Khūsf River (usually dry), was formerly the seat of semi-independent rulers and a caravan centre; it has in part maintained its

Birka, medieval city in southeastern Sweden, on the Lake Mälaren island of Björkö. It was Sweden’s first major urban centre and served as a thriving international trade centre between western and eastern Europe. Founded in the 9th century and thus one of the earliest urban settlements in

Birkarlar, group of Swedish and Finnish traders and trappers who, for approximately 300 years, explored, colonized, and governed the forest area extending from the eastern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia to the northern Norwegian hinterland. In 1277 the Swedish kings gave the Birkarlar the right to

Lake Moeris, ancient lake that once occupied a large area of the al-Fayyūm depression in Egypt and is now represented by the much smaller Lake Qārūn. Researches on the desert margin of the depression indicate that in early Paleolithic times the lake’s waters stood about 120 feet (37 m) above sea

George Birkbeck: …was the first president of Birkbeck College.

George Birkbeck was a British physician who pioneered classes for workingmen and was the first president of Birkbeck College. In 1799 Birkbeck was appointed professor of natural philosophy at Anderson’s Institution in Glasgow. There he started a course of lectures on science, to which artisans were

Nubian languages: …Nubian) and in Darfur (where Birked [Birgid] and Midob [Midobi] are spoken). These languages are now considered to be a part of the Nilo-Saharan language family.

Auschwitz, Nazi Germany’s largest concentration camp and extermination camp. Located near the industrial town of Oświęcim in southern Poland (in a portion of the country that was annexed by Germany at the beginning of World War II), Auschwitz was actually three camps in one: a prison camp, an

Birkenhead, seaport and urban area (from 2011 built-up area) in the metropolitan borough of Wirral, metropolitan county of Merseyside, historic county of Cheshire, northwestern England. It is situated on the Wirral peninsula facing Liverpool at the mouth of the River Mersey. The community was a

Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of Birkenhead was a British statesman, lawyer, and noted orator. As lord chancellor (1919–22), he sponsored major legal reforms and helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. A graduate (1895) of Wadham College, Oxford, Smith taught law at Oxford until 1899,

Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of Birkenhead was a British statesman, lawyer, and noted orator. As lord chancellor (1919–22), he sponsored major legal reforms and helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. A graduate (1895) of Wadham College, Oxford, Smith taught law at Oxford until 1899,

Birkenia, genus of extinct early fishlike vertebrates found in Late Silurian and Early Devonian rocks in Europe (from about 421 to 387 million years ago). Birkenia was a primitive jawless vertebrate that attained a length of only about 10 cm (4 inches). Birkenia was adapted for active swimming, and

George David Birkhoff was the foremost American mathematician of the early 20th century, who formulated the ergodic theorem. Birkhoff attended the Lewis Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago from 1896 to 1902 and then spent a year at the University of Chicago before

Birkin bag, handbag produced by French luxury retailer Hermès and named after English model, actress, and singer Jane Birkin. First debuting in 1984, the Birkin bag (or simply “Birkin”) became a status symbol in the 1990s and has become known for its sizable price tag and its difficulty to

Birkin bag, handbag produced by French luxury retailer Hermès and named after English model, actress, and singer Jane Birkin. First debuting in 1984, the Birkin bag (or simply “Birkin”) became a status symbol in the 1990s and has become known for its sizable price tag and its difficulty to

Birkin bag: …English model, actress, and singer Jane Birkin. First debuting in 1984, the Birkin bag (or simply “Birkin”) became a status symbol in the 1990s and has become known for its sizable price tag and its difficulty to purchase.

Rupert Birkin, fictional character, a sickly introspective school inspector in the novel Women in Love (1920) by D.H. Lawrence. Birkin, based on Lawrence himself, struggles to understand and act upon his desires. His relationship with his lover, Ursula Brangwen, is full of conflicts, for in his

Fay Weldon was a British novelist, playwright, and television and radio scriptwriter known for her thoughtful and witty stories of contemporary women. Weldon grew up in New Zealand, attended St. Andrew’s University in Scotland (M.A., 1952?), and became an advertising copywriter in London. In the

birling, outdoor sport of the North American lumberjack. Its origin can be traced to the spring log drives of eastern Canada and the New England states, particularly the state of Maine, during the early lumbering era in the 19th century, from which it moved westward to the Great Lakes region and

Celtic literature: Developments of the 18th century: His masterpiece, Birlinn Chlann Raghnaill (“The Galley of Clanranald”), is an extravaganza, ostensibly a description of a voyage from South Uist in the Hebrides Isles to Carrickfergus in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He also composed nature poems, love poems, drinking songs, and satires.