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  • red salmon (fish)
    North Pacific food fish of the family Salmonidae that lacks distinct spots on the body. It weighs about 3 kg (6.6 pounds); however, some specimens may weigh as much as 7.7 kg (17 pounds). Sockeye salmon range from the northern Bering Sea to Japan and from Alaska southward to California. The sockeye can migrate more than 1,600 km (1,000 miles) upriver to spawn in lakes or tributary streams, the you...
  • Red Saunders (dye)
    ...a tendency to be larger than related species elsewhere. They are highly prized as shade trees and for their red or reddish brown wood. The blood-red sap is used commercially; a red dyewood, “Red Saunders,” which is obtained from the padauk, was formerly exported in quantity from India....
  • Red Scare (United States history)
    ...with a clear mandate to restore business as usual, a condition he termed “normalcy.” Americans wished to put reminders of the Great War behind them, as well as the brutal strikes, the Red Scare, and the sharp recession of Wilson’s last years in office. Peace and prosperity were what people desired, and these would be achieved under Harding....
  • Red Scare (United States history [1919])
    ...with a clear mandate to restore business as usual, a condition he termed “normalcy.” Americans wished to put reminders of the Great War behind them, as well as the brutal strikes, the Red Scare, and the sharp recession of Wilson’s last years in office. Peace and prosperity were what people desired, and these would be achieved under Harding.......
  • Red Sea (sea, Middle East)
    narrow strip of water extending southeastward from Suez, Egypt, for about 1,200 miles (1,930 kilometres) to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects with the Gulf of Aden and thence with the Arabian Sea. Geologically, the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba (Elat) must be considered as the northern extension of the same structure. The sea separates the coasts of Egypt, The Sudan, and Eritrea to the west from ...
  • Red Sea coastal plain (coastal plain, Arabia)
    The Red Sea coastal plain is constricted throughout its length, attaining its greatest widths, 40 to 50 miles, south of Medina and south of Mecca. The name Tihāmah, used for the whole plain, is sometimes subdivided into Tihāmat Al-Ḥijāz and Tihāmat ʿAsīr. There are no natural harbours adequate for large vessels, but the many inlets are well suited f...
  • Red Sea Hills (region, Africa)
    mountainous region of southeastern Egypt and the northeastern part of The Sudan, paralleling the Red Sea. It lies largely south of Egypt’s administrative boundary with The Sudan and separates the coastal lowland of the Red Sea from the Nile River valley. The north-south–trending mountain chains in the Itbāy region are called the Red Sea Hills....
  • Red Seal (record label)
    ...recordings were of whistlers, bands, comic numbers, ditties, ethnic routines, and the like. In the first years of the 20th century, Victor and its affiliates raised cultural expectations with its Red Seal series (Red Label in Europe), particularly with discs made, beginning in 1902, by Enrico Caruso. By 1910 the vast majority of record sales—some estimates are as high as 85......
  • red seaweed (protist)
    members of the division Rhodophyta (about 4,100 species), predominantly marine algae often found attached to other shore plants. Their morphological range includes filamentous, branched, feathered, and sheetlike thalli. In most species, thin protoplasmic connections provide continuity between cells. Their usual red or blue colour is the result of a masking of chlorophyll by phycobilin pigments (p...
  • red shift (astronomy)
    displacement of the spectrum of an astronomical object toward longer (red) wavelengths. It is generally attributed to the Doppler effect, a change in wavelength that results when a given source of waves (e.g., light or radio waves) and an observer are in rapid motion with respect to each other....
  • Red Shirt Movement (Indian nationalist movement)
    (Persian: “Servants of God”), an action in support of the Indian National Congress started by Abdul Ghaffar Khan of the North-West Frontier Province of India in 1930. Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun who greatly admired Mahatma Gandhi and his nonviolent principles and saw support for the Congress as a way of pressing his grievances against the British...
  • Red Shoes, The (film by Powell and Pressburger [1948])
    ...Color: Winton Hoch, William V. Skall, Joseph Valentine for Joan of ArcArt Direction, Black-and-White: Roger K. Furse for HamletArt Direction, Color: Hein Heckroth for The Red ShoesMusic Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Brian Easdale for The Red ShoesScoring of a Musical Picture: Roger Edens and......
  • Red Skelton Show, The (American television program)
    U.S. pantomimist and radio and television comedian, host, and star performer of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) variety program The Red Skelton Show from 1951 to 1971. In this television series Skelton re-created a number of characters—among them Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid, and Cauliflower McPugg—he had......
  • Red Sky in the Morning (work by Coffin)
    ...and at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine (1934–55); from 1937 to 1939 he was book and poetry editor for Yankee. Coffin explored other modes of writing in such works as Red Sky in the Morning (1935), a novel about the Maine coast; Kennebec (1937), part of a historical series on American rivers; and Maine Doings (1950), informal essays on New......
  • red snake-bark maple (plant)
    In one group of maples, the vertically striped silvery-white young bark provides an attractive winter landscaping feature. These trees are the striped maple (A. pennsylvanicum), the red snake-bark maple (A. capillipes), the Her’s maple (A. hersii), and the David’s maple (A. davidii). The chalk maple, with whitish bark, is sometimes classified as A. leuc...
  • red snow (biology)
    snow or ice surfaces, usually overlying soil on mountains, that are coloured by algae such as Chlamydomonas or Raphidonema. During seasons when there is little sunlight and temperatures are below the freezing point, the algae are dormant....
  • Red Sorghum (work by Mo Yan)
    ...Honggaoliang (1986; “Red Sorghum”) was later published with four additional stories in Honggaoliang jiazu (1987; “Red Sorghum Family”; Red Sorghum); it won him widespread fame, especially after its adaptation into a film of the same name (1987). In his subsequent work he embraced various approaches, from myth to realism, from......
  • Red Sox (American baseball team)
    American professional baseball team based in Boston. One of the most storied franchises in American sports, the Red Sox won seven World Series titles and 12 American League (AL) pennants....
  • red spider (mite)
    any of the plant-feeding mites of the family Tetranychidae (subclass Acari). Red spiders are a common pest on houseplants and agriculturally important plants, including the foliage and fruit of orchard trees....
  • red spot snapper (fish)
    any of the plant-feeding mites of the family Tetranychidae (subclass Acari). Red spiders are a common pest on houseplants and agriculturally important plants, including the foliage and fruit of orchard trees.......
  • red sprite (meteorology)
    flashes of light that occur above thunderstorms and that are associated with normal lightning in the thundercloud below....
  • Red Square (square, Moscow, Russia)
    open square in Moscow adjoining the historic fortress and centre of government known as the Kremlin (Russian: Kreml). The Kremlin and Red Square were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1990....
  • red squill (chemistry)
    ...calcium cyanide are mixed with bait and placed where rodents will find and eat them. All these poisons are toxic to other animals, and most cause death by disturbance of nervous-system functions. Red squill, a rodenticide derived from the bulbs of a lilylike subtropical plant, is slower-acting and less toxic to animals other than rodents because it is removed from the stomach by......
  • red squirrel (rodent)
    ...The North American gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has adapted to urban and suburban areas where it is regarded as aesthetic or as a minor annoyance. In northern Europe the red squirrel (S. vulgaris) is valued for its soft, thick fur. Villagers in tropical forests keep squirrels as pets. Most species are hunted for food....
  • Red Stockings (American baseball team)
    Anderson was named manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 and led the team to the National League (NL) title in his first season. In his nine years with the Reds, his teams won five National League pennants and two World Series championships (1975 and 1976). During this period, Cincinnati’s‘‘Big Red Machine’’ featured future Hall of Fame members Joe Morgan, Tony ...
  • Red Stockings (American baseball team)
    Maranville, who batted and threw right-handed, played minor league baseball during the years 1911–12 for a team in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He joined the National League Boston Braves in 1912, playing with them through the 1920 season. In 1914 Maranville and his team had a remarkable season—the Braves went from being in last place in the National League on the Fourth of July to......
  • Red Stone Dancer (work by Gaudier-Brzeska)
    ...experiment with abstraction and to draw upon the art of non-Western cultures on view at the British Museum. Gaudier’s various influences are visible in his most famous work, Red Stone Dancer (1913), a figure composed of simplified geometric forms that also retains some of the emotionalism of Rodin. Just before World War I, Gaudier-Brzeska joined Wyndham Lewi...
  • red stoneware (stoneware)
    In Europe, at Meissen in Saxony, E.W. von Tschirnhaus and J.F. Böttger developed a red stoneware (in fact, varying from red to dark brown) in about 1707. Decoration included applied reliefs, engraving, faceting, and polishing. Because of the vogue for porcelain, stoneware manufacture declined in Germany in the 18th century and was finally abandoned about 1730. In the Netherlands, also......
  • red summer cypress (plant)
    ...native primarily to Eurasia. The commonly cultivated garden species is summer cypress (B. scoparia), sometimes known as standing, or Belvedere, cypress. The most widely grown variety is the red summer cypress, also called firebush or burning bush (B. scoparia forma trichophylla), an erect, often globe-shaped plant with many branches and untoothed, narrow leaves, often hairy. The.....
  • red supergiant star (astronomy)
    ...and hot enough to yield copious amounts of hydrogen and helium fusion, and this heat input into the envelope will greatly distend the envelope of the star, bringing the star to the red giant and red supergiant evolutionary phases that characterize the later stages. The outer atmospheres of such stars are often cool enough to allow the condensation of some of the heavy elements into solid......
  • red surmullet (fish)
    The largest goatfishes are about 60 cm (2 feet) long, but most are much smaller. Many species are edible and valued as food. One of the best known of these is the red surmullet, or red mullet (Mullus barbatus), of the Mediterranean, which was one of the most highly prized food fishes of the ancient Romans. Very similar is another European species, M. surmuletus....
  • Red Tai (people)
    ...northeast, the Lue of the northwest, and the Phu Tai of the south. Also subsumed under the Lao Loum rubric are those peoples who were once classified as Lao Tai, including the Tai Dam and Tai Deng (Red Tai; so named after their red clothing), among others....
  • red tai (fish)
    ...sport fishes growing as heavy as 45 kg (100 pounds). In Australia, several important food species are known as snappers and belong to the genus Chrysophrys; in Japan, a related species, the red tai (C. major), is another important food fish....
  • Red Terror (Soviet history)
    ...persuade them to withdraw support for the Whites, and to encourage the opposition to intervention in Russia that already existed among French and British workers and soldiers. On the other hand, the Red Terror launched by the Bolsheviks in 1918, including the murder of the royal family, convinced many in the West that this new breed was beyond the pale. U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing......
  • Red Terror Campaign (Ethiopian history)
    ...a battle between his supporters and those of rivals on the PMAC. The chairman and several other members were killed, and Mengistu became head of state and chairman. He then unleashed a bloody “Red Terror Campaign” to crush armed opponents among the civilian populace, and later that year he solicited Soviet weaponry and Cuban troops to repel an invasion of the Somali-speaking Ogade...
  • Red Thumb Mark, The (work by Freeman)
    ...as a physician and surgeon, Freeman practiced in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he caught a fever. Eventually forced by ill health to retire from practice (1904), he began to write fiction. The Red Thumb Mark (1907) was the first of many works featuring Thorndyke....
  • Red Thunder Cloud (American storyteller)
    (CARLOS WESTEZ), U.S. Native American storyteller who was believed to have been the last speaker of the Catawba language, which was not his mother tongue. He made several recordings of the language and many others of songs (b. 1919--d. Jan. 8, 1996)....
  • red tide (marine biology)
    discoloration of sea water usually caused by dinoflagellates, during periodic blooms (or population increases). Toxic substances released by these organisms into the water may be lethal to fish and other marine life. Red tides occur worldwide in warm seas. Up to 50 million cells per litre (quart) of the species Gymnodinium brevis caused a red ti...
  • Red Top (missile)
    ...U.S. carrier-based fighters, for instance, carried both heat-seeking Sidewinders and radar-homing Sparrows. Meanwhile, the Europeans developed such infrared-homing missiles as the British Red Top and the French Magic, the latter being a short-range (one-quarter to four miles) highly maneuverable equivalent of the Sidewinder....
  • red topaz
    ...a moderate heat, and this treatment has since been extensively applied, so that nearly all the pink topaz occurring in jewelry has been heat-treated. Such “burnt topaz” is often known as Brazilian ruby, as is the very rare, natural red topaz. Cut topazes of large size are known, and it is said that the great “Braganza diamond” of Portugal is probably a topaz. ...
  • red tuna (fish)
    ...tuna (T. obesus), blackfin tuna (T. atlanticus), and longtail tuna (T. tonggol). These different species range from moderate to very large in size. The giant of the group is the bluefin tuna, which grows to a maximum length and weight of about 4.3 m (14 feet) and 800 kg (1,800 pounds). The yellowfin tuna reaches a maximum weight of about 180 kg, and the albacore grows to......
  • red uakari (Cacajao calvus novaesi)
    There are two species and three main colour forms of this primate, and all are either endangered or vulnerable. The faces of red uakaris (subspecies C. calvus rubicundus, C. calvus novaesi, and C. calvus ucayalii) are bright red, and the coats range from reddish brown to red-orange. They live in flooded forests along the upper Amazon River and its......
  • red uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii)
    ...main colour forms of this primate, and all are either endangered or vulnerable. The faces of red uakaris (subspecies C. calvus rubicundus, C. calvus novaesi, and C. calvus ucayalii) are bright red, and the coats range from reddish brown to red-orange. They live in flooded forests along the upper Amazon River and its tributaries in eastern Peru and......
  • red uakari (Cacajao calvus rubicundus)
    There are two species and three main colour forms of this primate, and all are either endangered or vulnerable. The faces of red uakaris (subspecies C. calvus rubicundus, C. calvus novaesi, and C. calvus ucayalii) are bright red, and the coats range from reddish brown to red-orange. They live in flooded forests along the upper Amazon River and its......
  • red valerian (plant)
    ...and as pot herbs, are corn salad (V. olitoria) and Italian corn salad (V. eriocarpa). The genus has about 80 members, mostly Eurasian; a few are native or naturalized in North America. Red valerian, or Jupiter’s-beard (Centranthus ruber), native to the Mediterranean, is widely naturalized in British meadows, roadsides, and on walls. Its billowy masses of tiny, fragra...
  • Red Volta River (river, Africa)
    river in West Africa, rising in Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) northwest of Ouagadougou. It flows about 200 mi (320 km) south-southeast to join the White Volta (Volta Blanche) near the Gambaga scarp in the Upper Region of Ghana. The combined rivers then turn southwestward as the White Volta. The gradient of the Red Volta is relatively gentle (about 2 ft per mi [40 cm per km]), and the rainfal...
  • red water (marine biology)
    discoloration of sea water usually caused by dinoflagellates, during periodic blooms (or population increases). Toxic substances released by these organisms into the water may be lethal to fish and other marine life. Red tides occur worldwide in warm seas. Up to 50 million cells per litre (quart) of the species Gymnodinium brevis caused a red ti...
  • Red Week (Italian history)
    On Giolitti’s resignation in March 1914, the more conservative Antonio Salandra formed a new government. In June, “Red Week,” a period of widespread rioting throughout the Romagna and the Marche, came in response to the killing of three antimilitarist demonstrators at Ancona. When World War I broke out in August, the Salandra government stayed neutral and began to negotiate wi...
  • Red Wheel, The (work by Solzhenitsyn)
    ...about Russia. In 1983 an extensively expanded and revised version of August 1914 appeared in Russian as the first part of a projected series, Krasnoe koleso (The Red Wheel); other volumes (or uzly [“knots”]) in the series were Oktyabr......
  • red whortleberry (plant)
    Other fruits of species in the genus Vaccinium are erroneously called cranberries. The cowberry, or foxberry (V. vitis-idaea), also known as mountain, or rock, cranberry, or as lingonberry, is not cultivated but is used in northern Europe and by Scandinavians in the United States. The southern cranberry, or red huckleberry (V. erythrocarpum), is found in mountainous areas......
  • Red Wing (airplane)
    During the 15-month history of the AEA, members of the organization built and flew a series of biplanes powered by Curtiss engines. Baldwin flew the first of those aircraft, named Red Wing because of the colour of the silk covering its wings, 319 feet (97 metres) over the frozen surface of Lake Keuka, near Hammondsport, on March 12, 1908. Taking turns, the four younger members of the AEA (i.e.,......
  • Red Wing (Minnesota, United States)
    city, seat (1853) of Goodhue county, southeastern Minnesota, U.S. It lies on the Mississippi River (bridged to Wisconsin), near Lake Pepin, about 45 miles (70 km) southeast of St. Paul. In 1805 the explorer Zebulon Pike arrived at the site, which was overlooked by Barn Bluff and was then a Sioux village....
  • red wolf (mammal)
    The red wolf (C. rufus) is tawny, reddish, or black. It grows to a length of about 105–125 cm (41–49 inches), excluding the tail, which is 33–43 cm (13–17 inches) long, and weighs about 20–37 kg (44–82 pounds). The red wolf is an endangered species that formerly roamed through the southeastern United States as far west as Texas. Following.....
  • Red-Back Book (recording by New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble)
    ...a guest conductor or as conductor in residence for several orchestras and music festivals. Schuller also formed the New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, whose recording Red-Back Book, consisting of the works of Scott Joplin, became a best seller and won a Grammy Award in 1973....
  • red-backed lemming (rodent)
    ...Northern Hemisphere. They have short, stocky bodies with short legs and stumpy tails, a bluntly rounded muzzle, small eyes, and small ears that are nearly hidden in their long, dense, soft fur. The wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor) and steppe lemming (Lagurus lagurus) are the smallest, measuring 8 to 12 cm (3.1 to 4.7 inches) in body length and weighing 20 to 30.....
  • red-backed sandpiper (bird)
    one of the most common and sociable birds of the sandpiper group. The dunlin is a member of the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). It is about 20 cm (8 inches) long and has a bill curved downward at the tip. In breeding season, its plumage is brightly coloured, with its belly black and its back reddish (or dun-coloured, hence the n...
  • red-backed shrike (bird)
    ...Most of these migrants use different routes to cross the Mediterranean, chiefly in the western portion, although some migrate only southeastward. Golden orioles (Oriolus oriolus) and red-backed shrikes (Lanius collurio) go to East Africa by way of Greece and Egypt. Swallows—particularly barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) and house martins (Delichon......
  • red-backed squirrel monkey (primate)
    ...arms, and feet are yellow to orange. Common squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) have olive or grayish crowns and are found only in South America, whereas the endangered Central American squirrel monkeys (S. oerstedii) have black crowns and reddish backs. The common and Central American species both have hair on the ears, unlike the......
  • red-bellied piranha (fish)
    Found from northern Argentina to Colombia, piranhas are most diverse in the Amazon River, where 20 different species are found. The most infamous is the red-bellied piranha (Serrasalmus nattereri), with the strongest jaws and sharpest teeth of all. Especially during low water, this species hunts in groups that can number more than 100. Several groups can converge in a feeding frenzy if a......
  • red-bellied woodpecker (bird)
    ...Picus viridis) ranges throughout the woodlands of temperate Eurasia and south to North Africa. The deciduous forests of the southeastern United States are the habitat of the red-bellied woodpecker (Centurus carolinus)....
  • red-berried elder (plant)
    ...which grows to 15 metres (48 feet). European red elder (S. racemosa), native from northern Europe to North China, has round clusters of scarlet berries and reaches 4 metres (13 feet). Red-berried elder (S. pubens), with dark pith, is a similar North American species. Danewort (S. ebulus), widespread in Europe and North Africa, is a perennial with annually herbaceous......
  • red-billed leiothrix (bird)
    genus of birds of the babbler family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes), with two species: the silver-eared mesia, or silver-ear (L. argentauris), and the red-billed leiothrix (L. lutea), which is known to cage-bird fanciers as the Pekin, or Chinese, robin (or nightingale). Both range from the Himalayas to Indochina; L. lutea has been introduced into Hawaii, where it is......
  • red-billed oxpecker (bird)
    either of the two species of the African genus Buphagus, of the family Sturnidae (order Passeriformes). Both species—the yellow-billed (B. africanus) and the red-billed (B. erythrorhynchus)—are brown birds 20 cm (8 inches) long, with wide bills, stiff tails, and sharp claws. They cling to cattle and big-game animals to remove ticks, flies, and maggots from their....
  • red-billed quelea (species)
    (species Quelea quelea), small brownish bird of Africa, belonging to the songbird family Ploceidae (order Passeriformes). It occurs in such enormous numbers that it often destroys grain crops and, by roosting, breaks branches. Efforts to control quelea populations with poisons, napalm, pathogens, and electronic devices have had poor success; but dynamiting the dense colonies, which may con...
  • red-billed weaver (species)
    (species Quelea quelea), small brownish bird of Africa, belonging to the songbird family Ploceidae (order Passeriformes). It occurs in such enormous numbers that it often destroys grain crops and, by roosting, breaks branches. Efforts to control quelea populations with poisons, napalm, pathogens, and electronic devices have had poor success; but dynamiting the dense colonies, which may con...
  • red-breasted goose (bird)
    ...for tearing aquatic plants. Among the waterfowl the basic bill has undergone a wide adaptive radiation. The geese have evolved strong, deep bills with hard, sharp lamellae. In some, such as the red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis), the bill is short and slight, used only for grazing; in others, such as the snow goose (Anser caerulescens), it is long and heavy......
  • red-breasted merganser (bird)
    ...size; the male lacks a noticeable crest. It usually nests in hollow trees in north temperate to subarctic regions and migrates to more southerly rivers. The somewhat smaller and ground-nesting red-breasted merganser (M. serrator) has a similar range. In the United States, common and red-breasted mergansers are often called sheldrakes (properly a name for the shelducks)....
  • red-breasted nuthatch (insect)
    Nuthatches live around the world, except in South America. The best-known species in North America are the red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), a stubby, grayish, rufous-breasted, 10-gram (0.35-ounce) bird that often boldly approaches humans in northern conifer groves, and the white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), a grayish, black-capped, white-breasted, 21-gram......
  • red-breasted stilt (bird)
    The banded, or red-breasted, stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephala), of Australia, is white with brown wings, reddish breast band, and yellowish legs. ...
  • red-breasted toucan (bird)
    ...name is derived from tucano, a native Brazilian term for the bird. The largest toucans, up to 60 cm (24 inches) long, are Ramphastos species. An example common in zoos is the red-breasted (also called green-billed) toucan (R. dicolorus) of Amazonia. Another common zoo resident is the keel-billed toucan (R. sulfuratus), which is about 50 cm......
  • red-breasted wryneck (bird)
    ...with their long tongues, and they nest in old woodpecker holes. The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla), 16 cm (6.25 inches) long, breeds from England to Japan and winters in the tropics. The red-breasted wryneck (J. ruficollis) is African....
  • red-capped mangabey (primate)
    ...fur; they have light-coloured eyelids, often bright white. They spend much of their time on the ground and usually carry their long, tapering tails forward over their backs. The white-collared or red-capped mangabey (C. torquatus), the largest species, lives in west-central Africa and is gray with a white “collar” around the neck and a red crown. The.....
  • red-cheeked cordon bleu (bird)
    ...Estrildidae (order Passeriformes). The birds, including some popular cage birds, are native to Africa, where they frequent villages and farms. A widespread species is the 13-centimetre (5-inch) red-cheeked cordon bleu (U. bengalus), occurring from Senegal and Congo (Kinshasa) to Somalia and Zimbabwe. It is brown and pale blue, with red cheek spot (in the male only) and longish......
  • red-cheeked gibbon (primate)
    ...Vietnam and Laos; the northern concolor (H. leucogenys) and southern concolor (H. siki) gibbons are found farther south, and the red-cheeked gibbon (H. gabriellae) lives in southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia....
  • red-crested cardinal (bird)
    Other cardinals belong to the genus Paroaria. The red-crested cardinal (P. coronata), also known as the Brazilian cardinal, has a red head, a white belly, and gray wings. Though native to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia, it occasionally can be seen visiting the eastern coast of the United States. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1928......
  • red-crested pochard (bird)
    The common, or European, pochard (Aythya ferina) breeds along northern reedy lakes; some winter in Egypt, India, and southern China. The drake of the red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) has a puffy yellowish red head with fuzzy erectile crown feathers, black throat and breast, and white sides. This is a more southerly species of inland waters. Mahogany-coloured relatives are the......
  • red-eyed tree frog (amphibian)
    The common, or European, pochard (Aythya ferina) breeds along northern reedy lakes; some winter in Egypt, India, and southern China. The drake of the red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) has a puffy yellowish red head with fuzzy erectile crown feathers, black throat and breast, and white sides. This is a more southerly species of inland waters. Mahogany-coloured relatives are the.........
  • red-eyed vireo (bird)
    The best-known and most widely distributed species of vireo is the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus), which breeds from southern Canada to Argentina. It is 15 cm (6 inches) long, with a black-outlined white eye stripe that contrasts with the bird’s gray crown. Similar in general appearance is the white-eyed vireo (V. griseus). In Bermuda, where it is common, it is known as......
  • red-figure pottery (art)
    type of Greek pottery that flourished from the late 6th to the late 4th century bc. During this period most of the more important vases were painted in this style or in the earlier, black-figure style. In the latter, figures were painted in glossy black pigment in silhouette on the orange-red surface of the vase; details were added largely by inc...
  • red-footed booby (bird)
    any of six or seven species of large tropical seabirds constituting the family Sulidae (order Pelecaniformes). They vary in length from about 65 to 85 centimetres (25–35 inches). The red-footed booby (Sula sula) and the masked, or blue-faced, booby (S. dactylatra) are wide-ranging in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The blue-footed booby (S. nebouxii) occurs......
  • red-fronted gazelle (mammal)
    The red-fronted gazelle (G. rufifrons) is found from Senegal in the west to The Sudan in the east. It is reddish brown and has sides marked by a narrow black streak bordered below by a narrow, reddish brown band. Its horns are strong and slightly curved....
  • red-headed vulture (bird)
    The red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), often called the Pondicherry vulture or the Indian (black) vulture, is an Old World vulture ranging from Pakistan to Malaysia. It is about 75 cm (30 inches) long and has a wingspan of about 2.7 metres (8.9 feet). It is black with white down on the breast and has a huge black beak and large lappets on the sides of the neck....
  • red-headed woodpecker (bird)
    ...inches) long and is found from the deciduous woodlands of western North America south to Colombia. It depends on acorns for winter food, storing a supply in holes it drills in the bark of trees. The red-headed woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus) is roughly the same size (19–23 cm [7.5–9 inches]) as the acorn woodpecker, but it is sparsely distributed in op...
  • red-jointed fiddler crab (crab)
    ...1 foot) deep and feed on algae and other organic matter. Common North American species include the marsh fiddler crab (Uca pugnax), the china-back fiddler (U. pugilator), and the red-jointed fiddler (U. minax). These species, which range in body size from about 2.5 to 3 cm (1 to 1.2 inches), occur all along the Atlantic coast of the United States. The males of all......
  • red-lead putty (adhesive)
    The name putty is also applied to substances resembling putty, such as iron putty, a mixture of ferric oxide and linseed oil; and red-lead putty, a mixture of red and white lead and linseed oil. Certain doughlike plastics are also called putty. Putty powder (tin oxide) is used in polishing glass, granite, and metal....
  • red-legged douc (primate)
    The red-legged douc (P. nemaeus) lives from 14° to 20° N latitude. The legs are maroon below the knees, and the forearms are white. The black-shanked douc (P. nigripes) is found south of 14° N and has black legs, gray arms, and a darker face. The ranges of the two species overlap, apparently with very little interbreedi...
  • red-legged ham beetle (insect)
    Some checkered beetles feed on maggots (fly larvae) in carcasses; others live in honeybee nests. The red-legged ham beetle (Necrobia rufipes) feeds on stored meats. Some Trichodes and Hydnocera species are pollen eaters. The predatory larvae feed mainly on wood- and bark-boring beetles and are therefore beneficial to man. ...
  • red-legged kittiwake (bird)
    ...the North and South Atlantic coasts. Kittiwakes have evolved a number of behavioral and structural modifications for nesting on narrow cliff ledges. A close relative, with red bill and feet, is the red-legged kittiwake (R. brevirostris), which inhabits the region of the Bering Sea. ...
  • red-legged seriema (bird)
    ...American bird of grasslands, constituting the family Cariamidae (order Gruiformes). There are two species, both restricted to southern-central South America. The red-legged, or crested, seriema (Cariama cristata), with long legs and neck, stands about 60 cm (2 feet) tall. The beak and legs are red, and the plumage is brownish above and dull white beneath, with bluish skin around the......
  • red-necked gazelle (mammal)
    ...with a white rump, underparts, and head in the western races, such as the critically endangered mhorr gazelle (G. dama mhorr), to white with reddish brown neck and shoulders in the eastern, red-necked gazelle (G. dama ruficollis). Its horns are bent sharply backward and then curve up and forward at the tips....
  • red-necked phalarope (bird)
    ...gray in summer; in winter they are gray and white. Two species that breed around the Arctic Circle are the red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), called gray phalarope in Britain, and the northern phalarope (P. lobatus), called red-necked phalarope in Britain. Both species winter on tropical oceans, where they are known as sea snipe. Wilson’s phalarope (P. tricolor)....
  • red-necked wallaby (marsupial)
    ...are built like the big kangaroos but differ somewhat in dentition. Their head and body length is 45 to 105 cm (18 to 41 inches), and the tail is 33 to 75 cm long. A common species is the red-necked wallaby (M. rufogriseus), with reddish nape and shoulders, which inhabits brushlands of southeastern Australia and Tasmania; this species is often seen in zoos. The pretty-faced......
  • red-out (vision disorder)
    ...and there is a gritty feeling under the eyelids because of swelling in the small blood vessels. There may be temporary loss of vision or all objects may appear red; this latter condition is known as “red-out.” The mental confusion that develops at high accelerations may lead to unconsciousness....
  • red-shafted flicker (bird)
    ...auratus) of eastern North America, which has more than 100 local names. This golden-winged form, which measures about 33 cm (13 inches) in length, is replaced in the West (to Alaska) by the red-shafted flicker (C. cafer), considered by many authorities to represent the same species as the yellow-shafted because the two forms hybridize frequently. The campos, or pampas, flicker......
  • red-shouldered hawk (bird)
    ...This beneficial hunter preys mainly on rodents, but it also catches other small mammals as well as various birds, reptiles (including rattlesnakes and copperheads), amphibians, and even insects. The red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus), common in eastern and Pacific North America, is a reddish brown bird about 50 cm (20 inches) long, with closely barred underparts....
  • red-tailed black shark (fish)
    fish of the carp family, Cyprinidae; a species of labeo....
  • red-tailed hawk (bird)
    The buteos, also called buzzard hawks, are broad-winged, wide-tailed, soaring raptors found in the New World, Eurasia, and Africa. The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), the most common North American species, is about 60 cm (24 inches) long, varying in colour but generally brownish above and somewhat lighter below with a rust-coloured tail. This beneficial hunter preys mainly......
  • red-tailed squirrel (rodent)
    ...low in the understory or on the ground. The African palm squirrels (genus Epixerus) are long-legged runners that forage only on the ground. Certain species, such as the red-tailed squirrel (S. granatensis) of the American tropics and the African pygmy squirrel, are active from ground to canopy. In the United States, the Eastern fox......
  • red-tailed tachinid (insect)
    ...and Centeter cinerea was transplanted to the United States to check the destructive Japanese beetle. The caterpillars of the armyworm may be up to 90 percent infested by larvae of the red-tailed tachinids (Winthemia)....
  • red-tailed tropic bird (bird)
    Largest of the three species is the red-tailed tropic bird, Phaethon rubricauda (to 50 centimetres [20 inches], excepting the red streamers), of the Indian and Pacific oceans....
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