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* HOOD. 191 HOODIE. notably that of Dominica, for his share in ■which he was granted an Irish peerage. He was elected member of Parliament for Westminster in 1784, was made a Lord of the AdniiraUy four ye;irs later, took command of the Britisli Heet in the .Mediterranean in 1793, and in 1790 was made a viscount. He was specially strong as a tactician, and his junior officer, Horatio Nelson, acknowl- edged his indebtedness to him in that particular, and upon his retirement wrote: '"The fleet must regret the loss of Lord Hood, the best officer, take him altogether, that England has to boast of; great in all situations which an admiral can be placed in." HOOD, Thomas (1799-1845). An English poet and humorist, born in London, JMay 23, 1799. After leaving school he was placed in a merchant's counting-house, but his health failing, he was sent to Dundee. At the age of nineteen he returned to London, and studied the art of engraving with his uncle. In 1821 he became assistant subeditor of the London Magazine. He contributed to it considerable verse, and made the acquaintance of its brilliant staff, which included De Quincey, Hazlitt, and Lamb. His first separate publication was entitled Odes and Addresses on (irciit People, written in con- junction with J. H. Reynolds (1825). In 1820 he published Whims and Oddities, of which a second series appeared during the following year. In 1829 he began the Comic Annual, and con- tinued it for nine years. The same year he edited the Gem, one of the popular annuals, contributing to its pages his striking poem en- titled "Eugene Aram's Dream." In 1824 Hood married the sister of .7. H. Reynolds, and in 1831 he went to reside at Wanstead, in Essex, where he wrote his novel Tijlney Hull (1834). Vhile there he suffered from the failure of a publisher. In 1835, now weakened in health, lie went to the Continent, where he remained five years, first at Coblenz. on the Rhine, and then at Ostend. He, however, continued his Comic Annuals, started Hood's Own (1838). con- taining a portrait and reminiscences, and made Smollett's Uumphreii Clinker a framework for .some humorous sketches called Ui> the Rhine (1839). In 1840 he returned to England, and began to write for the Xew Monlhlt/ Macjazine, of which he became editor the following year. Here appeared "Jliss Kilmansegg," his best comic poem. Withdrawing from this magazine toward the close of 1843. he started Hood's ^[a(!azine, .January, 1S44: and in the same year collected his fugitive pieces under the title of ^yhimsi- cnlitirs. which were illustrated by Leech. By Christmas he took to his bed. which he never again left. During his last illness Sir Robert Peel conferred on him a pension of £100 a year, which he transferred to his wife. lie died on May 3. 1845. and w'as buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. HcKid takes a hicrh place both as humorist and as serious poet. He is great at once in comedy and in pathos, and he sometimes curiously mingles and combines both. .Xs a punster he is sunreme: he connects far-separated words and ideas by the most subtle analogies, and sends them loose. 'Much of his comedy, however, is verbal and shallow, and will he soon forgotten. It is as a poet that Hood will be remembered. His "Eugene .ram's Dream." "Song of the Shirt." and "Bridge of Sighs" are among the most perfect poems of their kind in the English language. Consult: Memorials, ed. by his daughter (Lon- don, 1800) ; Literary Reminiscences in Bood'a Uti:n, first series (ib., 1838) ; Eliot, Hood in hcotland (Dundee, 1885) ; Works, ed. by son and daughter (10 vols., London, 1809-73); Poems, ed. by Ainger, in "Everley Series" (12 vols., ib., 1897 ) ; and Haunted House, with memoir by Aus- tin Dobson (ib., 1895). HOODED CROW (so called from the mark- ing on the head). A true crow [Corvus comix) of the north of Europe, also called in England 'dun,' or 'gray,' and 'Koyston' crow, and in Scot- land 'hoodie.' The head, fore parts, and wings are glossy black; the remainder of the body, ash- eolor; the bill and feet, black. It is slightly migratory, and retreats southward in winter from tlie most northerly parts of Europe and Siberia when the other crows go south. Its gen- eral habits are those of the carrion-crow, with. which' it interbreeds extensively, so that some naturalists believe the two birds to be varieties of one species. See Newton, Dictionary of Birds (London and New York, 1890). The 'hooded crow' of India is a smaller species {Corvus splendcns) of similar appearance. It is tame to the point of being a nuisance to Euro- peans wherever it is numerous. Hardly a sta- tion or camp in British India, it is said, is free from a crowd of these feathered thieves. They have the amusing habit of building their nests of the wire from discarded soda-water bottles. HOODED MERGANSER. See Mebganseb. HOODED SEAL. A large seal (Cystophora crislala) inhabiting the coasts of Greenland, and North America as far south as the United States. It also occurs on the coasts of Sweden and Nor- way and in the ^rctie Ocean. It is foimd gener- ally in the icy islands, or floating ice-fields, in the open sea. and visits the land in April. May, and .June. About two inches from the extremity of the upper jaw there is a cartilaginous crest, increasing in height as it passes backwiftd to the back part of the head, where it is about seven inches high, and has a longitudinal depression in the middle, about an inch deep. This crest is an elongation of the septum of the nose, and the true nostrils open on either side of it. It is covered by a muscular hood clothed with fur. The whole apparatus is probably defensive, but may be accessory to the organ of smell, and. as the fishermen suppose, may serve as a reservoir of air while the animal is under water. The hood is wanting in the females and young. The hooded seal is polygamous and brings forth its young on the ice. It has a voice resembling the bark and whine of a dog, and when attacked weeps copious tears. HOODED 'WARBLER (so called from the marking on the head). One of the most beauti- ful and active of the .American 'fly-catching' war- l)lcrs. I See Warhleh.) It is olive-green above and yellow below, with the head, neck, and breast deep black. It inhabits in summer the Eastern I'nited States, where it frequents thick- ets and undergrowth, and makes a soft, cup-like nest in low bushes. Its systematic name is Syl- rania mitrata. See Colored Plate of WooD- Wakui.ers with Warbi.er. HOODIE. See Hooued Crow.