A S I 



A S I 



Antigua. Tiie abdomen is black, with a yellow lunar mark 

 .on the firll fegmcnt. Fabricius, &c. 



AsiATiCA, in Ornithology, a bird of the MyctEp.iA ge- 

 nus, or Jabini. Tliis is of a large fize, white colour, with 

 a black band through the eyes ; lower part of the back, 

 •quill, and tail feathers black. Ind. Orn. The bill of tliis 

 bird is duflcy, and the legs pale red. It is a native of the 

 Eall Indies, and feeds on fnails. 



AsiATicA, a fpecies of Emberiza, found in the Eafl 

 Indies, where it is called Gaur. We know very little of 

 this bird ; it is of a fmall fiz.e, being about four inelies and 

 a half in length. Bill pale rofe colour : licad, neck, back, 

 breaft, and belly cinereous, paleft beneath ; wings and tail 

 brown with paler edges ; legs pale blue. Lath. In the Ind. 

 Orn. it is delcribed fpecifically as being of a cinereous co- 

 lour ; wings and tail brown. 



AsiATicA, a fpecies of Coliimba, that inhabits India. 

 The colour is- greeniih afli ; head afli ; under fide of the 

 body wliite, and a fpot of the fame on the wings ; quill 

 feathers black with a white exterior margin. The length 

 of this bird is eleven inches ; bill bluciili at the bafe, and 

 white towards the tip ; tail greenifli a(h, duflcy at the end ; 

 legs bhicifh ; claws black. It is called the Indian pigeon. 

 Lath. Ind. Orn. 



AsiATicA, a fpecies of Ckrtmia, or creeper, that in- 

 habits India. It is about four inches in length, and briefly 

 defcribed as being of a deep blue, with brown wings ; black 

 bill, and legs of the fame colour. Lath. Ind. Orn. 



ASIATICUS, a new fpecies of Falco, defcribed by 

 Dr. Latham in the Supplement to his Synopfis of Birds. 

 The length is twenty-one inches ; and though fnialler, it re- 

 fembles tlie common buzzard. The bill is blueiili black ; 

 breail cream colour, dafhed down the (hafts with duikv 

 black ; belly, thighs, and vent white ; quills grey, barred 

 with black ; on the fecondaries a bar of the lame. In his 

 Ind. Orn. this bird is thus ipecilically defcribed : legs half- 

 downy and yellow ; body brown above, beneath white ; 

 breaft llreaked, tail-feathers filvery grey, with five obfolete 

 bands on the exterior ones. Inhabits China, and is called 

 in England the Afiatic falcon. 



AsiATicus, a fpecies of Caprimulgus, defcribed by 

 Dr. Latham, Sup. Gen. Syn. under the name of Bombay 

 Coitt-fucher. It is pale afti colour clouded with black, and 

 ferruginous breaft fafciated with afh-colour ; a blackifli 

 ftreak on the crown of the head, a pale one on each fide 

 of the jaw, and a pale fpot on the throat ; length eight 

 inches and a half. Inhabits India. In addition to the 

 foregoing fpecific character, it may be obferved that the 

 plumage of this bird is an elegant intermixture of alli co- 

 lour and brown ; and that between the legs it is of a pale 

 rufous ; quills dufcy, barred with rufous ; four of the 

 greater quills have a fpot of white on the inner web ; tail 

 marked in the fame manner as the quills, except the two 

 middle ones, which are mottled like the back, and the two 

 outer ones have the ends white for about an inch ; the mid- 

 dle toe is greatly pcftinatcd. 



AsiATicus, a fpecies of Trogon, in Latham's Ind. 

 Orn. un::oticed by Gmehn. It is green ; forehead, crown, 

 and back of the neck red ; throat blue, with a red fpot ; 

 quill and tail feathers black. The length of this bird is 

 nine inches ; the red on the forehead is bounded by a white 

 line, and on the crown and neck is bounded below by 

 a white line, and on the fides by a black one ; legs green. 

 Inhabits India. 



ASID^ANS. SeeCHAsiD^EANS. 

 ASIGRAMMA, in Ancknt Cography, a town of India, 

 fcaled on the Ganges. Ptolemy. 

 Vol. in. 



ASIGRTJM, in Botany. See Hypericum. 



AS [I, in Ancient Geography, a tribe or horde o£ Scv- 

 thian Nomades, who came from the country beyond the 

 laxartes, and deprived the Greeks of Battria. Strabo, i. xi. 



P- 779- 



ASILII'ORMIS, in Entomohgy, a fpecies of Sphinz, 

 tlie wings of which are deeply fcalloped and dentated ; an- 

 terior ones cinereous, with a dark band and black dot upon 

 it ! pofterior pair red, with a black margin. Inhabit* 

 India. Fabricius. 



AsiLiFORMis, a fpecies of MuscA {Syrphus Faljr.) 

 that inhabits Germany. The thorax is hairy and yellow- 

 ilh ; abdomen black ; firll and fccond fegracnt whitilh. Fa- 

 bricius, Gmelin, &c. 



ASILUS, a genus of dipterous infefls in the Linna'an 

 fyftem, the charafter of which is that the mouth is fur- 

 nifhcd with a horny, projetting, ftraight, bivalve, fucking 

 trunk that is gibbous at the bafe ; and the antenuie 

 filiform. Tiiefeate the wafp flies of feme writers ; they prey 

 chiefly on infciits, but are very froublcfomc to cattle. 



The fpecies defcribed by Gmelin are numerous ; viz. 

 groflus, maurus, algirus, barbarus, crabroniforir.is, ephip. 

 pium, ailuans, faftiatus, barbatus, gibbofus, ater, diadema, 

 cahdus, flavus, vioiaceus, gilvus, punctatus, marginatus, 

 phimbeus, cayenfis, teutamus, germauicu^, rufiocs, macu- 

 latus, marginellus, annulatus, ftvlatus, cingulatus, nigri- 

 pes, brunneus, forcipatus, tipuloides, cinftus, lineatus, cy- 

 aneus, oclandicus, morio, lufitanicus, conopfoidcs, linearis, 

 culicitonnis, villofus, pubefccns, ftriatus, albifrons, aeftivus, 

 nigerrinuis, and podagricus ; which fee refpecfively. Al- 

 girus has the body entirely brown, and inhabits Africa. 

 Fab. & Gmel. TEJluans -i^ a native of North America, is 

 cinereous, and lias the three laft fegmcnts of the abdomen 

 white. Linn. Gmel. ^J/?;'i<«j inhabits Europe ; the colour 

 is cinereous, with three black lines on tlie thorax ; legs 

 black; fiianks tcftaceoiis. Schrank. Scopoli defcribes a 

 variety in which the legs are entirely black. 



AsiLus, a fpecies of Oniscus, that inhabits the Eu- 

 ropean ocean. Tlie abdomen is covered with two fcalcs ; 

 and the tail is femioval. Linn. Fn. Suec. Fabr. &c. This 

 '\% pcd'iciilus marinus of Rondel. 



ASINARA, in Geogmpl.y, a fmall ifland in the Medi- 

 terranean near the north-weft coa'l of Sardinia, about ten 

 leagues in circumference, is fertile and populous. The 

 mountains abound with wild boars, deer, buffaloes, and 

 falcons. N. lat. 41° 5'. E. long. 8° 30'. 



ASINARIA, in Antiquity, fcafts of the Syracufans, in- 

 ftituted in commemoration of the viftory gained by therrx 

 over Nicias and Dcmofthenes, the Athenian generals, near 

 the river Afmarius, now Faiunera, from which they took 

 their name. 



ASINARII, in Ecchjiafilcal Hijlory, an appellation 

 given by way of reproach to the Chriftians, as well as Jews, 

 from a miftaken opinion, among heathens, that they wor- 

 fliipped an afs. The appellation was originally given to the 

 Jews, and only became apphcd to the Chriftians : the Jews 

 were charged with keeping a golden afs's head in the fanc- 

 tuary of the temple, to which on certain occafions they paid 

 adoration; in memory of a herd of afles, which, in their 

 pairing tlirough the wildeniefs, fliewed Mofes the way, 

 under a diftrefling want of water, to a fpring. Tacit. Hift. 

 lib. V. 



Some had even the impiety to reprefent Chrift with an 



afs's ears, and one foot hoofed, liolding a book, with the 



infcription Deus Chri/lianonim o.oxrXrj^. Crinit. de Honcft. 



Difcipl. lib. i. c. 9. See Asinus. 



ASINATA, in Eriiomology, a fpecies of Phalsma 



M (CeomeiraJ, 



