Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/416

LEFT GOLD COAST COLONY 862 GOLDEN EAGLE GOLD COAST COLONY, a British crown colony on the coast of west Africa. Coast line about 350 miles; area about 80,000 square miles; pop. about 1,604,000, of whom about 500 are Europeans. The native state of Ashanti lies inland, at the back of the central portion of the colony and is now included in British Gold Coast Territories. The products are chiefly palm oil, gold, palm kernels, rub- ber, timber, etc. Chief town, Accra. Trouble arose between the King of Kumassi, who had declared himself King of Ashanti in 1894, and the British au- thorities and in 1895 an expedition was sent against him, under the command of Sir Francis Scott, which resulted in the submission of the king, who was after- ward taken to the coast. The kings of Bekwai and Abodom also made their sub- mission, and the country was placed un- der British protection, and a resident ap- pointed at Kumassi. The Niger Conven- tion drawn up by the Anglo-French Com- mission sitting at Paris, and signed June 15, 1898, settled the boundaries of the hinterland to the W. and the N. Bona and Dokta were given up to France, and the French had to concede Wa and other points to the E. of the Volta which had been occupied by them. brassy-green C. polita and C. staphylea commonly found on nettles in spring. GOLDEN CHEESONESE, THE, the Malay Peninsula; so called by Ptolemy and Milton. G L D E N-C RESTED WREN or GOLDEN-CRESTED REGXJLUS, or KINGLET {Regulus cristatus), a beau- tiful bird belonging to the family Sylvia- dse, distinguished by an orange crest. It is the smallest of British birds, being only about 3% inches in length. The upper part of the body is yellowish olive green, all the under parts pale reddish- white, tinged with green. Its nest is most commonly open at the top, but some- times it is covered with a dome, and has an opening on one side. It is always in- geniously suspended beneath the branch, being the only instance of the kind among the birds of Great Britain. The eggs are 9 or 10 in number. GOLDEN EAGLE, or RING-TAILED EAGLE, a North American bird, Aquila chrysaetus, sub-family Aquilnse. It is 32 to 40 inches long, and the wing 35. The head and neck behind are light- brownish fulvous, the tail at base white, terminal portion glossy black, and all GOLD DREDGE GOLDEN BAY, the Bay of Rieselarke, so named because its sands glitter like gold. GOLDEN BEETLE, the name popu- larly given to many members of a genus of coleopterous insects, Chryscrmela, and of a sub-family, Chryscmielinas, belonging to the tetramerous section of the order. The body is generally short and convex, some of the species are destitute of wings. None are of large size, but many are distinguished by their metallic splen- dor of color. The finest species are trop- ical, but some are found in Britain — e. g., the golden C. cerealis with purple stripes found on Snowdon, and the other parts purplish-brown. It has great power of flight, but not the speed of many of the falcons and hawks, but its keen sight enables it to spy an object of prey at a great distance, and with meteor-like swiftness and unerring aim it falls on its victim. The nest of the golden eagle is placed on a shelf of a rugged and generally inaccessible preci- pice. It is flat and very large, and con- sists of dry sticks. The eggs are two in number and dull white with undefined patches of brown. The golden eagle preys on fawns, hares, wild turkeys, and other large birds. It does not attain its full beauty of plumage till the 4th year.