Jacamar is a common name for about 18 species of birds of the family Galbulidae of the order Piciformes, inhabiting South and Central America.
Jacamars range from 15.75 to 31 centimetres in length, their long, sharp bills accounting for up to a third of the total. The longest species, the paradise jacamar (Galbula dea), has a small body; its length is attributable to its long bill and elongated tail feathers. Most species are metallic greenish or bluish above and brown below.
Jacamars lay their eggs in holes drilled into earthen banks. Although most fly-catching birds have short broad bills, the long-billed jacamars are adept at snapping up flying insects. Research Jacamar
The Jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest and most powerful of the American members of the cat family, Felidae. The Jaguar is found as far north as Mexico and throughout South America, but it is especially abundant in the dense forests of Central America and Brazil. A mature jaguar is more than two metres long and stands 60 centimetres high at the shoulder. Its coat is a rich yellow, spotted with large black rosettes, each consisting of a circle of spots surrounding a central spot. The head and body are massive, and the legs are relatively short and thick. An adept climber and an excellent swimmer, the animal feeds on a wide range of arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic animals. Although feared, it rarely attacks humans; in the pre-Columbian civilizations of Peru and Central America, it was worshiped as a god. Today the Jaguar is extensively hunted because of ranchers' claims that it attacks cattle, although studies indicate that such attacks are infrequent. In the tropical part of their range, Jaguars
appear to mate in any season, but elsewhere they mate during the latter part of the year. After a gestation period of about 100 days, the female bears two to four cubs, which reach maturity at about the age of two. The Jaguar has a life span of about 20 years. Research Jaguar
The stoat (Mustela Erminea) is a carnivorous mammal of the weasel family Mustelidae found over temperate Europe, but common only in the north,. Stoats are quick, strong and adept hunters. In winter, the stoat's reddish-brown above coat turns a white colour. In both states the tip of the tail is black. A stoat with a white winter coat is called an ermine. The stoat has a body about 25 cm long, with a tail about 10 cm long. The female is smaller than the male, about 20 cm long in the body. Stoats live in hollow trees and in holes in banks, where they build a nest of grass and leaves for the young which are born around April. Stoats feed on mice, rats, voles, hares and rabbits. Like many other species of this genus the stoat has the faculty of ejecting a fluid of a musky odour. Its fur is short, soft, and silky; the best skins being brought from Russia, Sweden, and Norway. Stoat fur and particularly ermine were formerly in great demand; it was formerly one of the insignia of royalty, and is still used by judges. When used as linings of cloaks the black tuft from the tail is sewed to the skin at irregular distances. Research Stoat
The water shrew (Neomys fodiens) has a fringe of bristly silvery-white hairs on the hind feet, a double row of hairs act as a keel on the tail for swimming. It is very dark in colour above, but the underside varies from white to grey. Sometimes it occurs as a very dark morph. The ear openings can be closed, and there are four uni-cuspid teeth. The water shrew moults in spring and autumn. Water shrews live generally close to water, that is mostly on the banks of swiftly flowing streams and weirs, and are especially abundant in watercress beds, and are also occasionally found near ditches, ponds and the seashore. They may be found as a temporary visitor in woodlands and grasslands. The nest is a ball of vegetation in an extensive burrow system, excavated by the shrew, using its front feet and nose. The entrance may be above or below water level, and the shrew may re-use mole tunnels. Water shrews eat mostly aquatic crustaceans and insect larvae, and terrestrial beetles, molluscs, worms, occasionally small fish, amphibia and mammals, which are caught both under water and on land. The water shrew produces a venom in its saliva which is effective against small mammals, and is a fast, adept swimmer, a good diver and floats like a cork due to the air caught in its very water-repellent coat. The breeding season is from April to September, with two litters a year possible, each of about six young, but maybe as few as three or as many as fifteen. The animals becoming sexually mature in their second year. Research Water Shrew
Marceline Day (real name MarcelineNewlin) was an American actress. She was born in 1908 at Colorado Springs and died in 2000. She achieved stardom in the mid-1920s, appearing opposite such stars as John Barrymore and Buster Keaton. Adept at comedy, she also starred with such top comics as Charley Chase, Stan Laurel and Harry Langdon. Her career faltered in the early 1930s, however, and she was soon reduced to appearing in low-budget thrillers and action pictures. She retired in the mid-1930s. Research Marceline Day
In Australian mythology, Woo was a strange man like creature with a single arm formed from two arms and a single leg formed from two legs. He was an expert marksman and adept at balance. Research Woo
The Alpini were an elite Italian mountain military force founded in 1872 and expanded during the Great War into eight special regiments and 38 companies of militia. They used mule transport and were all adept mountaineers and skiers. Among their exploits was the capture in April 1916 of the Adamello Glacier during a snowstorm from an Austrian force at an altitude of over 3,000 metres. Research Alpini
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Artful Dodger
