GOATSUCKER n.
One of several species of insectivorous birds, belonging to Caprimulgus and allied genera, esp. the European species (Caprimulgus Europæus); -- so called from the mistaken notion that it sucks goats. The European species is also goat-milker, goat owl, goat chaffer, fern owl, night hawk, nightjar, night churr, churr-owl…
GOLDEN a.
s guard him in the golden mean. Pope. -- Golden mole (Zoöl), one of several South African Insectivora of the family Chrysochloridæ, resembling moles in form and habits. The fur is tinted with green, purple, and gold. -- Golden number (Chronol.), a number showing the year of the lunar or Metonic cycle. It is reckoned f…
GORDIUS n.
A genus of long, slender, nematoid worms, parasitic in insects until near maturity, when they leave the insect, and live in water, in which they deposit their eggs; -- called also hair eel, hairworm, and hair snake, from the absurd, but common and widely diffused, notion that they are metamorphosed horsehairs.…
GRAIN n.
A reddish dye made from the coccus insect, or kermes; hence, a red color of any tint or hue, as crimson, scarlet, etc.; sometimes used by the poets as equivalent to Tyrian purple. All in a robe of darkest grain. Milton. Doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipped their silks in colors of less value, then give' them…
GRAPE n.
on grapevines; vine mildew. -- Grape hopper (Zoöl.), a Small yellow and red hemipterous insect, often very injurious to the leaves of the grapevine. -- Grape moth (Zoöl.), a small moth (Eudemis botrana), which in the larval state eats the interior of grapes, and often binds them together with silk. -- Grape of a ca…
GREEN n.
pigment for wall paper, artificial flowers, etc., but particularly as an exterminator of insects, as the potato bug; -- called also Schweinfurth green, imperial green, Vienna green, emerald qreen, and mitis green. -- Scheele's green (Chem.), a green pigment, consisting essentially of a hydrous arsenite of copper; --…
GROUND n.
ittacus and Geopsittacus, which live mainly upon the ground. -- Ground pearl (Zoöl.), an insect of the family Coccidæ (Margarodes formicarum), found in ants' nests in the Bahamas, and having a shelly covering. They are strung like beads, and made into necklaces by the natives. -- Ground pig (Zoöl.), a large, burrowin…
HARVEST n.
ing in Virginia. Also applied to the dollar fish. -- Harvest fly (Zoöl.), an hemipterous insect of the genus Cicada, often called locust. See Cicada. -- Harvest lord, the head reaper at a harvest. [Obs.] Tusser. -- Harvest mite (Zoöl.), a minute European mite (Leptus autumnalis), of a bright crimson color, which is…