Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/561

* KINGFISHER. 507 KINGLET. l.irger bird tlian the European species. It is as much as 13 inches in length, but its colors are not nearly so brilliant, although they are lianilsonic. 'J he upper parts are bluish-gray, more or less spotted, and marked with white, especially en the wings and tail; the under parts arc white, with a band across the breast and the sides bluish-gray; in young birds the pectoral liand and sides are tinged with rufous, while in the female they are distinctly rufous. The belted kingfisher is found breeding tliroughout Nortli ,mcrica. Its cry is similar to a watchman's rattle, or to the fisherman's click-reel, as John Burroughs happily observes. The only other kingfisher oei-urring in North America is the Texan green kinglislier (Cvryle Cahunasi), which is only about eight inclies long, and is glossy- green above and wiiite beneatli, the lower parts spotted with green. It is found in the valleys of the Lower Kio (irande and Colorado, where it is said to be common. Consult: Xewton. Dictwnnry of Birth (London and New York, 1S03-0G), and standard authori- ties on European and American ornithqlog}'. See Plate of Kingfishers, JIotmots, etc. KING GEORGE'S WAR. The name common- ly given to that part of the struggle known in European History as the War of the Austrian Succession which was fought in America. In Europe hostilities began with the invasion in 1740 of the Austrian Province of Silesia by Fred- erick II. of I'russia. France, Bavaria, 8pain, and Saxony soon joined in a league against Aus- tria ; while hostility to France, and the anxiety of George II. for the safety of his Electorate of Hanover, early drew England into the strug- gle on the side of Austria. (See Succession Wars.) In America the war was begun by the capture in JIay. 1744. of Canso. in Xova Scotia, by a Freneli expedition from Louisbnrg. Fearing that the French would follow up this success by an attempt to conquer all of Xova Scotia, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts ad- vised that an attack should be made against Louisburg. The JIassachusetts General Court agreed to the plan, and appealed to the other colonies for assistance. In response Pennsyl- vania sent provisions, and X'ew York some artil- lery, but the men were furnished by the X^ew Eng- land colonies alone. William Pepperell. a mer- chant of Maine, was placed in coiiimaiul; and on llie last day of April. 1745, the expedition, con- sisting of about 100 colonial vessels. 4000 colonial troops, and a small English squadron under Commodore Warren, appeared before I>onisburg. The place was so strongly fortified that it had been regarded by the French as impregnable, and the colonial troops were so poorly equipped and had so little knowledge of the art of war that an attack upon it seemed almost ho]X'less, yet after a siege of seven weeks the fortress sur- rendered. In the three following years there were some confiiets at sea, and there wa.s con- siderable border fighting, but no very important operations took place, and a much discussed plan for reducing the whole of Canada was not carried out. The struggle was brought to a close in 1748 by the Treaty of .Aixla-Chapelle. which provided, so far as England and France were concerned, for a return to the status existing before the war ^vas begun. Louisburg was given back to France in return for Madras, much to the dissatisfaction Vol. XI.— 33. of Xew England, and the boundaries between the Frencli and linglish colonial possessions were left unsettled. Consult: Parkman, .1 //a7/-('fH(iny o/ Conflict (Boston, 18!)2) ; S. A. Drake, The Taking of Louisburg, l~.'{o (Boston, 1891) ; and S. G. Drake, I'urlicular History of the Five Years' French and Indian ^Var, nH-J/O (Albany, 1870). KINGHUNTER. The great Australian king- fisher. See L,vroiiiNG-.LCKASS. KINGLAKE, Alexander William (1809- 91). An English historian. He was the eldest son of William Kinglake, lawjer and banker, and was born at Taunton, Sonier.selsliire. August 5, 1809. He studied at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a friend and contempo- rary of Thackeray and Tennyson, and graduated JI.A. in 1836. He entered Lincoln's Inn in 1832, was called to the bar in 1837, and soon acquired a large practice. About 1835 he made a tour in the Orient of some length, the result of which was a book entitled Eothen, descriptive of his adventures and impressions. It was not pub- lished until 1844, but at once attained an aston- ishing popularity, passing through many editions in England and America, and being extensively translated on the Continent. He joined Saint Armand's flying column in Algiers in 1845, and in 1854 followed the British expedition to the Crimea, minutely studying the camiiaign. In 18t)3 vols. i. and ii. of his magnum opus. The Inrasion of the Crimea, appeared, and fully sus- tained his literary reputation. Volumes iii. and iv. were published in 1808. vols. v. and vi. in 1875-80. The last and eighth volume appeared in 1887. His antipatliy to Xapoleon III. and the actors in the coup d'etat was marked. From 1857 to 1868 he sat in Parliament as member f(U- Bridgewater, and in 1860 was a determined opponent of the annexation of Savoy and Xicc. He died .January 2, 1891. KING LEAR. A famous tragedy by Shake- speare, written in 1604 or 1605, and jiroduccd before King' James at Whitehall on December 26, 1606. The story on which the play is founded is told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layamon. Rob- ert of Gloucester. Holinshcd, and others. A dram- atization was made in 1593 or 1594. under the title of the Chronicle Hintoric of King I.cir. and was reprinted in 1605, probably because of the success of Shakespeare's play. Percy's Reliques preserves the ballad of King Leir and Hi.i Three Daughterly T^ar. King of Britain, desiring to be freed from the cares of ruling, divides his king- dom between his daughters Goneril and Regan, who profess great love for him. and disowns his youngest daughter Cordelia, who loves him most, but docs not satisfy him in the expression of her alTection. His elder daughters, having secured his possessions, appear in their true character, and by their perfidy and heartlessness drive the ascil Kins; to madness. Cordelia, married to the King of France, comes to his rescue, but fails and is put to death, and the broken-hearted King dies by her body. KINGLET. . very diminutive bird of the thrush family and genus Regulus. sometimes called a golden-crowned, or ruby-crowned, or fire- crested warbler or wren. The color above is light olive-green : below, yellowish-gray, while the crest is orange-yellow, ruby-red, or flre-orangc,