Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/787

 BOBRUISK jingling medley of short variable notes, ut- tered with such seeming confusion and rapid- ity, and continued for a considerable time, that it appears as if half a dozen birds of diiferent kinds were singing all together. Many of the tones are in themselves charming, but they succeed each other so rapidly that the ear can hardly separate them. Nevertheless the general effect is good, and when 10 or 12 are all singing in the same tree, the concert is singularly pleasing." The female makes an inartificial nest of withered grass, in some de- pressed place in the meadows, and lays five or six eggs of purplish white, blotched all over with purplish stains, and spotted with brown at the larger end. During April, May, and June the males are constantly singing, and they nei- ther congregate nor damage any crops ; but toward the end of June they become silent, and gradually assume the coloring of the fe- males, so that by the beginning of August the change is complete. They now assemble in vast flocks, mute with the exception of a short, sharp chirrup, and do some mischief to the latest crops of oats and barley ; chiefly, how- ever, they congregate in throngs along the river beds and lake margins, wherever the wild rice (zizania aquatiea) grows abundantly. Along the Delaware and Schuylkill, as also on the borders of the New Jersey and many of the Virginia streams, they are much pursued by sportsmen. As the cool nights draw on, late in September and early in October, they quit their northern summering places for the south- ern rice fields, which they at times glean so completely that it is useless to attempt to ga- ther the grain. Here they become so fat and sluggish that they can scarcely fly, and when shot are frequently known to burst open on striking the ground. Before the rice crop is fully gathered, they have already made their appearance in Cuba and Jamaica, where they repeat the same ravages on the seeds of the guinea grass (sorghum), and grow so fat that they receive the name of " butter birds." BOBRIISK, a fortified town of Russia, in the government and 87 m. S. E. of the city of Minsk, on the right bank of the Beresina; pop. in 1867, 24,681, nearly one half of whom are Jews. The town is a station for packets navi- gating the Beresina, and carries on a brisk trade in corn and wood. It was first fortified by Alexander I., successfully resisted a siege by the French in 1812, and was raised by Nicholas to a fortress of the first class. BOCA TIGRIS, or the Bogoe, the entrance to the Canton river, China. It is a comparative- ly narrow passage, about 40 m. from Canton, and is called by the Chinese Hu Mun, or "The Tiger's Mouth," of which Boca Tigris is the Portuguese translation. There are two rocky islands in its centre, which were carefully for- tified by the Chinese, and were considered by them impregnable. But since 1830 British squadrons have silenced them three times, and these once famous batteries are now dismantled. 101 VOL. n. 49 BOCCACCIO 767 Boca Tigris. All that part of the estuary of Canton river which lies southward of the Bogue is known by the name of the " Outer Water." BOCCACCIO, Giovanni, an Italian novelist, born in Paris in 1313, died at Certaldo, Dec. 21, 1375. His father was originally of Certaldo, but removed to Florence, where he amassed wealth, and filled several public offices. His mother was a French woman with whom his father formed an illicit connection while visit- ing Paris. Having determined on a commer- cial career for his son, his father removed him from his tutor, Giovanni da Strada, before his Lathi course was completed, and as soon as he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of arith- metic apprenticed him to a merchant in Paris, with whom he remained six years. His mas- ter, finding that he profited nothing, finally sent him back to his father, who had sufficient penetration to discover that his son would never make a merchant, but thought that his studious habits might serve him in the legal profession. But the law proved as distasteful as commerce, and led to altercations between the youth and his father. After a while he again returned to commerce and fixed his residence in Naples. The king, Robert of Anjou, a friend and patron of Petrarch, was devoted to literature, and drew to his court the most emi- nent scholars of Italy. Boccaccio was well acquainted with Giovanni Barili, a man of erudition, and Paolo of Perugia, the king's li- brarian ; and encouraged by them he entirely abandoned trade and gave himself up to the pur- suit of learning. His father having consented to this on the condition that he should study the canon law, he applied himself to it for some time, took his doctor's degree, and after that found himself more at liberty to indulge his passion for poetry. In 1341, while at Naples, where he resided eight years, Boccaccio became acquainted with the princess Mary, the ille- gitimate daughter of King Robert. She was married, but became the avowed mistress of Boccaccio. At her instance he composed his romance of II Filocopo and V Amoroso, Fiam- metta, in the latter of which his lady, under the name of Fiammetta, bewails the loss of