Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/432

 426 BULL FIGHT head, and, seizing him by the lip, tongue, or eye, hang on, in spite of every attempt to de- tach him, and will suffer himself to be killed or even dismembered rather than forego his hold. It was an old saying that one bulldog was a match for a bull, two for a wolf, three for a bear, and four for a lion. With the decline of bull-baiting the demand for the bulldog has ceased; although he is still found useful to cross with other dogs, to which he imparts courage, endurance, and tenacity of purpose. There is a large cross of the bulldog in the greyhound, introduced by Lord Orford, to give certain valuable qualities ; and the grey- hound shows it by his always running at the head of large animals, as the deer. There is also a probable cross in the pointer, shown in the pendulous jowl and rat tail, as well as in the determined character. BULLFIGHT,* Spanish amusement, originally introduced by the Moors, and adopted in all the cities of the kingdom, each of which has an arena of greater or less magnificence, called the plaza de toros, set apart for this entertain- ment. The bulls are turned out, one by one, into the open space, where they are first as- sailed by horsemen, called picadores, who at- tack them with the lance. The horses are often ripped up, but the moment the picador is overthrown a crowd of active footmen, called chulos, provided with crimson banners, take off- the attention of the bull while the horseman makes his escape. The bulls are next torment- ed by the banderilleros, armed with sharp- barbed darts having fireworks and flags at- tached to them, until they are thickly covered with shafts, bleeding and scorched by the ex- plosions of the fireworks. Then the principal performer, the matador, enters the arena, hab- ited in black, and armed only with a long straight sword, with which he soon gives the coup de grace to the tortured brute, thrusting the blade up to the hilt into his body just at the junction of the neck and spine. BULLFINCH (pyrrhula rubicilla, Pall.), a bird of the finch family, a native of northern and temperate Europe. The bill is remarkably short and thick, of a black color, and convex in all its outlines ; the head is large, the neck short, and the body stout. The length of the male bird is 6 inches, the extent of wings 10 inches, the bill about one third of an inch. The plumage is soft; around the base of the bill the feathers are bristly, concealing the nos- trils ; the third quill of the wing is the longest ; the tail nearly straight, consisting of 12 broad rounded feathers. The eyes are dark brown, the feet dusky, the claws brownish black. The upper part of the head and a band at the base of the lower jaw are glossy bluish black ; the hind neck, back, and scapulars ashy gray ; the rump and lower tail coverts white ; the upper coverts and tail bluish black ; the quills and primary coverts are brownish black, the outer webs of the secondaries being glossed with blue ; the secondary coverts are tipped with BULLHEAD gray or grayish white, forming a bar on the wing; the cheeks, front of the neck, breast and sides are light crimson ; the belly grayish Bullfinch (Pyrrhula rubicilla). white. This is the ordinary male plumage, which in captivity becomes sometimes very dusky. The female is a little smaller ; the color- ing is similar, but the tints are much duller ; the parts which are red in the male are dull grayish brown in the female. The bullfinch is fond of w coded and cultivated districts, avoiding barren tracts near the sea and bleak islands ; it is gregarious, but seldom associates with other birds ; it is not migratory, -but frequents the woods and thickets of England during the whole year. Its flight is quick and undulating ; its notes are soft, low, plaintive, and mellow. It is often caged for its beauty, and in captivity becomes very docile, and may be taught a va- riety of tunes. During the greater part of the year it lives in the thickets and woods, occa- sionally visiting the fields in search of seeds. In the spring it is very destructive to the buds of the gooseberry, cherry, plum, and other fruit trees. It begins to build its nest in the beginning of May, of small, dry twigs and fibrous roots, generally in a thorn bush, thick hedge, or bushy spruce ; the eggs, four or five in number, are of bluish or purplish white color, speckled and streaked with purple and reddish brown. The young at first resemble the female, but without the black on the head ; the male does not acquire the full red tint un- til the second year. l!l I.LIIKAIK the popular name of several spe- cies of cottoid fishes, principally of the genera cottus and acanthocottus, inhabiting both fresh and salt water. All were formerly confounded in the genus cottt/8, but Mr. C. Girard (" Smith- sonian Contributions to Knowledge," vol. iii.) has separated them, restricting the genus cot- tus to the fresh-water species, while he gave the name acanthocottus to the marine species, more commonly called soulpins. These two groups are easily distinguished : the head of