Alectromancy (also spelled alectryomancy) is divination by a cock. A circle was drawn on the ground and around it each letter of the alphabet, onto which was placed a grain of corn. The cock was then placed in the centre of the circle and observed as he ate the grains, the letters so indicated revealing the answer to the question. Research Alectromancy
The Cock-Lane Ghost was a hoax conducted by William Parsons, his wife, daughter and a female ventriloquist during 1760 and 1761 at number 33 Cock- lane, London. In the house, unaccountable noises were heard and a number of persons declared to have seen a ghost. To spite a previous lodger, Kemt, the owner of the house claimed the ghost was a lady poisoned by Kemt. The truth was discovered and the parents were condemned to the pillory and two years imprisonment in 1762. Research Cock-Lane Ghost
The blackbird or merle (Turdus merula) is a British bird of the thrush family common in Britain and throughout Europe. It is larger than the common thrush, its length being about 25 cm. The male has black plumage and a yellow bill. The female is dark brown with a dark bill. The nest is usually in a thick bush, and is built of grass, roots, twigs, etc, strengthened with clay. The eggs, generally four or five in number, are of a greenish-blue, spotted with various shades of brown. The song is rich, mellow, and Mute-like, but of no great variety or compass.
Its food is insects, worms, snails, fruits, etc, and blackbirds may often be seen huntingworms across garden lawns which they do by attracting the worms to the surface by stamping their feet in imitation of rain fall, listening with their head cocked to one side, and then yanking the worm from the ground with their beak when it emerges.
The blackbird was formerly known as the 'Ouzel' or 'Ousel', 'missel thrush', 'mistletoe thrush', 'Holm Thrush', 'Holm Screech' and 'storm cock' in various parts of England, Scotland and Wales.
The blackbirds or crow-blackbirds of America are quite different from the European blackbird, and are more nearly allied to the starlings and crows.
The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus}, belonging to the starling family, is a familiar American bird that congregates in great flocks. Research Blackbird
Capercailzie, capercaillie, or cock of the wood, is the wood grouse (Tetrao urogallus), the largest of the gallinaceous birds of Europe, weighing from 9 to 12 Ibs. In the male the neck and head are ashy black, the wings and shoulders brown with small black dots, the breast variable green, the belly black with white spots, the rump and flanks black with zigzag lines of an ashy colour, and the tail-feathers black, with small white spots near their extremities. The female, about one-third less than the male, is striped and spotted with red or bay, black and white, and has the feathers of the head, breast, and tail of a more or less ruddy hue. It is common in northern Asia, in parts of Russia, and throughout Scandinavia. For some time it was almost or wholly extinct in Great Britain, but was successfully re-introduced during the 19th century. Research Capercailzie
A caruncle is a small hard outgrowth formed on the seeds of certain plants, such as the castor oil plant. A caruncle is the fleshy excrescence on the head of a fowl, such the comb of a cock or the wattles of a turkey. Research Caruncle
Cotinga is a common name for any of about 90 species of birds constituting the family Cotingidae, probably native to tropical South America but now ranging through Central America and into the south-western USA. They are mainly fruit-eating forest dwellers. Cotingas vary in size but may be up to 45 centimetres long. Many are brilliantly coloured, with striking crowns and wattles. The cries of several species, such as the bellbirds, are distinctive and can be heard for long distances. Their nests range from crude affairs to sophisticated domes. Among the cotinga species are the cock-of-the-rock and the umbrella bird. Research Cotinga
The emu or emeu (Dromaius Novoe Hollandioe) is a large, ostrich-like flightless bird found in the plains of Australia where it eats fruits, vegetable matter, roots etc. The emu resembles the cassowary in its vestigial wings and double- plumed feathers, but differing in the absence of the helmet, wattles, and spine-like quills on the wings. It nearly equals the ostrich in bulk, being thicker in the body, though its legs and neck are shorter. Its feet are three-toed (the ostrich has two toes), and its feathers, which are double, are of a dull sooty-brown colour, those about the, neck and head being of a hairy texture. Unusually the female emu is larger, more pugnacious and noisier than the male, resembling in demeanour the cock of other species of bird.
The wings are small and useless for flight, but the bird can run with great speed, and emu coursing as a sport was formerly very popular and led to a drastic reduction in the numbers of emus during the 19th century.
The feathers of the emu are used in industry for dust removal, for instance in the manufacture of motor vehicles, vehicles are passed through rollers covered in emu feathers to remove dust particles from the vehicle prior to it being painted - by 2008 no synthetic substance having been found which is as effective at dust removal. Research Emu
The grouse is a fowl like bird common in North America and north Europe of the family Tetraonidae whose distinguishing mark is a naked band, often of a red colour, in place of an eyebrow. They are wild, shy and almost untameable living in families in forests and barren regions and feeding on berries, buds and leaves. They are polygamous, the male abandoning the female, and leaving to her the whole care of the progeny. The eggs number eight to fourteen. The largest species is the capercailzie or wood grouse. Other British species are the black grouse, the red grouse, commonly called simply the grouse, and the white grouse or ptarmigan.
The black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is about the size of a common fowl. The male has the outer feathers of the tail curved outwards, so that the tail is lyre-shaped. It chiefly lives in high and wooded situations, feeding on various kinds of berries. The female is commonly called gray hen. To this genus belong several species peculiar to North America, the most remarkable of which is the pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido), which inhabits open desert plains in particular districts of the Union. The male is furnished with wing-like appendages to his neck, covering two loose, orangesacs, capable of being inflated. Another species is the cock of the plains.
The grouse with hairy feet and which undergo seasonal change of plumage form the genus Lagopus. Of these the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) is the most important. This bird, also called the moor fowl, is found in the Highlands of Scotland, also in Wales, the north of England, Ireland, and the Scottish islands. It pairs in the spring; the female lays eight or ten eggs. As soon as the young have attained their full size they unite in flocks of forty or fifty, and are extremely shy and wild. This bird attracts large numbers of sportsmen every August to the Scottish moors to take part in the grand sporting campaign which follows 'the twelfth.' The ptarmigan or white grouse (Lagopus mutus or vulgaris) is. ash-coloured in summer but its hue changes to a pure white in winter. It is found in Scotland and in the most northern regions, imhabiting the tops of mountains. Research Grouse
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alectromancy
