Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/126

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BIBD. 106 BIBDE. -was used for carnivorous purposes can only be conjectured. The general affinity of these huge birds seems to be with the herons ; and with them have been classed Gastornis and certain other large forms of contemporary time in Europe and North America, whose habits are supposed to be those of cursorial birds of prey. Other birds of the early Tertiary Age represented the Stega- nopodes (q.V.), or were similar to gulls, penguins, cranes, kin^lisbers, game-birds, and many other modern tyjies. The rocks and caves of the Paris Basin, and of central France, and the Eocene beds of Wvoming. have been particularly fruit- ful in orn'itholites. The ilioeene and Pliocene eras furnish still more fossil forms, among which a large number of genera still exist, showing how early birds arrived at the perfection of their form and adaptation. Lydckker tells us that by far the greater portion of the remains of birds irom the still higher Pleistocene rocks seem to be generioally if not specifically identical with those now inhabiting the district in which they occur, though their range at that time may have been different from its present extent. To this period, immediately precedent to that in which we live, belong such recently existing races as the moa, epiornis, dinornis, etc., but they are treated elsewhere. Consult: Newton, Dictionartj of Birds (Lon- don, 18!13-9ti) ; Oiseaiix fossih's dr la France (Paris, 1807-71) ; Marsh. Oclontoniithcs, a Mono- graph of the Extinct Toothed Birds of 'North America (Washington, 1880) ; Lucas, Animals of the Past (New York, 1901) ; Case, '"The Devel- opment and Zoological Relations of the Ver- tebrates Aves-Mammalia," in The Journal of Geology (Chicago, 1898). See also, for further references and paiticulars, BiKUS ; Extinct Ani- mals; Akch.eoptervx ; Hespekounis ; iloA, etc. BIRD, Arthur ( 1830 — ) . An American musician, born in Cambridge, Mass. After studying in Berlin, he went to Canada, but in 1886 he became a resident of Berlin. His com- positions comprise a Symphony: three suites for orchestra ; a serenade for wind instruments : Puppentfinze. and various other compositions for the piano: the comic opera Daphne (New York, 1897) ; and the ballet Riihesahl. BIBD, Edward (17721819). An English artist. He was born at Wolverhampton, and was first apprenticed to a maker of japanware. At the expiration of his term he refused all offers to con- tinue in the decoration of tea-trays and began to paint pictures. He aided himself by becoming a drawing-master in Bristol. His "Good News." sent to the Koyal Academy in 1809, made him at once popular. Afterwards he received infiuontial patronage, and in 1814 was appointed painter to Princess Charlotte. In 1815 he was elected a Royal Academician. His genre pictures are deemed the best of his work, though "The Field of Chevy Chase the Day After the Battle" is looked upon by some as a masterpiece. The "Sur- render of Calais" is also a picture of importance. His style resembled that of Wilkie. He is best remembered by "The Blacksmith Shop," "The Village Politicians," "The Country Aucti<m," and "The Young Recruit." He left uncom])leled . "The Embarkation of Louis XVIII. for France." He was buried with great houora in Bristol •Cathedral. BIBD, Frederic Mayer ( 1838 — ) . An Ameri- can clergyman, educator, and hymnologist, born in Philadelphia, Pa. He graduated at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1857 and the Union Theological Seminary in 1860, and from 1860 to 1867 was a Lutheran minister. In 1868 he took orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and from 1870 to 1874 was rector at Spottswood, N. J. From 1881 to 1886 he was professor of psychology, Christian evidences, and rhetoric at Lehigh University, and from 1893 to 1898 was editor of Lippincoit's Magazine. He edited Chai-les 'Wesley iSeoi in Bis Finer and Less Familiar Poems (1867): The Lutheran Minis- lerium (rev. ed., 1808: with Dr. B. M. Smucker) ; and Songs of the Spirit (1871: with Bishop Odenheinier ) , and has written much on hymnol- ogy, in which he is considered one of the fore- most American authorities. He also published I'he Story of Our Christianity (1893). BIRD, Isabella. See Bishop, Isabella Bird. BIRD, Ror.ERT Montgomery (1803-54). An American novelist. He was educated as a phy- sician, but practiced little. Turning his at- tention to literature, he composed three trage- dies. The Gladiator, Oraloosa, and The Broker of Bogota. The first suited the dramatic talent of Edwin Forrest and was one of his favorite im- personations. It still yields declamations for schoolbovs. Bird's first novel, Calavar, appeared in 1834, "and was followed by The Infidel (1835). Both of these were historical romances with Mexico as their scene and the Spanish Conquest as their background. Then followed The Hauks of flnick Hollow: Sheppard Lee; and Nick of the ^Voods (1837). Tlic last is his most popular and important work, the scene being laid in Ken- tucky near the close of the Revolutionary War, and its motive being the fear and Iiatred inspired in the backwoodsman by the red man. In other words. Bird sought to counteract the effects of Cooper's idealization of Indian character. Less important books — Peter Pilgrim (1838) and I'ohiji Day (1839) — followed; then Bird practi- cally retired from literary work, although he did some editing shortly before his death. His liter- ary life was passed mainly in Philadelphia. He was a careful writer, and attained considerable popularity in liis day. BIRD-CAGE WALK. The name of a walk in Saint James's Park, London. There were, in the reign of the Stuarts, aviaries in that section, whence the name. BIRD-CATCHING. See Trapping. BIBD-CHEBBY. A term applied in Great Britain and Europe to Prunus padtis, a tree bearing its fruits in racemes, and in other re- spects being a close counterpart of the American choke-cherry {Prunus Virginiana) . In America the term bird-cherry is reserved for /'ruin/s 7'en)i- sylvanica. the wild red chern,'. also known as pigeon or pin-cherry. Prunus Pennsylvanica is of little economic importance, being sparingly cultivated for ornamental purposes: it is occa- sionally used .IS a stock for the orchard cherry, and its fruit is used in making cough mixtures. BIBDE, herd, or BYED, William (1540- 1623). An English ecclesiastical composer. He was educated at Edward VI. 's Chapel, was ap- pointed organist in Lincoln Cathedral in 1563, and twelve years afterwards organist to Queen