A V I 



Ati LA,?, city of Soi:tli America, in the province of Oiiito, 

 and goveniraent of Qj.iixos, fituate in S. lat. o" 44', and about 

 2° 20' E. of Quito. It is lefs than Arcliidona, a fmali city- 

 lying in S. lat. one degree and a few minutei, and about 

 one degree fifty minutes E. of Quito. Like this latter 

 place, its houfes are of wood covered with llraw ; and as 

 tlie whole number of inhabitants in Archidona is reckoned 

 at 650 or 7"0, and confifts of Spaniards, Indians, Mcftizos, 

 and Mulattoes, thcfe of Avila fcarcely amount to 300 of 

 both fexes. Like the other it has one prieft; and his eccle- 

 fiaftical iurifdiftion comprehends fix towns; viz. La Con- 

 ception, Loreto, San Salvador, Motte, Cota Pini, and Santa 

 Rofa. 



Avi L A Fiicnte, a town of Spain, in Old Caftile, fix leagues 

 from Segovia. 



AVILER, Augustin-Charles D', in Biography, an 

 eminent French architedt, was born at Paris in 1653, and 

 from his youth devoted himfelf to the lludy of architcfture. 

 In his v.ay to Rome, whither he was ftnt for improvement 

 by the royal academy, at t'.ie age of twenty, he was carried 

 inti5 flavery by an Algerine corfair, and in this fituation he 

 manifelled his talents by making a defign for a grand 

 mofque at Tunis. After fixteen months he was liberated, 

 and purfued his ftudies at Rome for five years. On his re- 

 turn he was placed under Manfart, firft architeft to the 

 king, and had a principal concern in the conduct of all 

 public works. His " Courfe of Architecture" was founded 

 on the work of Vignola; but by the enlargement of that 

 writer's plan, was rendered a complete treatife of the art. 

 It has been much efteemed; the firft edition was that of 

 169!, 2 vols. 4to. ; and it has fince paffed through feveral 

 other editions. Being invited to Montpelicr, he fuperin- 

 tended the conftruAion of a grand triumphal arch to 

 Louis XIV., was afterwards appointed architect to the 

 province of Languedoc, and, befides other buildings in which 

 he was employed, he erected the archiepifcopal palace at 

 Touloufe. He died at Montpelier in 1700. Sloreri. Gen. 

 Biog. 



AVINO, in Geography, a tswn of North America, in 

 the province of New Gailicia, where the Spaniards have a 

 filver mine; between Durango and Ellerena. 



AviNO, La Pansa, a town of North America, in the 

 weftern part of the kingdom of Leon, between two of the 

 head-branches of Naflas river. 



AVIORA, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in Caramania, 

 fixty miles north-eaft of Tocat. 



AVIOTH, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Meufe, and chief place of a canton in the dillrict of Stenay, 

 three miles north of Montmed} . 



AVIRA, in Jndiiit Geography, a town of Afia, in the 

 Palmyrene. Ptolemy. 



AVIS IsDicus, in Jljironomy. See Apvs. 

 Avis, or Aviz, in Geography, a town of Portugal, in the 

 province of Alcntejo, giving name to an order of knights ; 

 three leagues weft of Eftremos. The land furrounding it 

 is covered with ciftus, which is ufually cut down once in 

 eight years and burnt, and the ground fown with corn. 

 iN.lat. 38^40'. W.long. 7". 



Avis, in Heraldry, a military order of knighthood, in- 

 ftituted by Alphonfo Henriques king of Portugal, in 1 142, 

 in teftimony of the great fervices done for him at the ficge 

 of Lilbon, by the "nobility led to his affiltance by Don 

 Ferdinand Ro'drigues de Monteyro, whom he appointed 

 to be their grand mailer. For fome years after they wore 

 called NouvlUc Milice, or the New Military ; which appel- 

 lation continued until the year 1 166, when they having taken 

 Evora by furprife, the king conferred on them the govers- 



A V I 



ment of that town, and commanded that tVey fhould thence- 

 forth be called Knights of Evora : laiUy, the fame king 

 having, in the year 1 181, taken from thcNIoors a place very 

 advantageoufly fituated, and called Avis, granted the fame 

 to the before-mentioned knights, on condition that they 

 ftiould build a fort in that place, and refide therein. The 

 knights accordingly tranfplaated themfrlves thither, and from 

 that time took the denomination oi Fnresd'/ivij. liithcyear 

 1204, pope Innocent HI. confirmed this order. Tlie badge 

 of the order is a crofsjlory, enamelled vert, belween each angle 

 a Jleur-Je-l':s or; which they wear pendant to a green 

 ribbon round the neck ; and the fame badge is embroidered 

 on the left flioulder of the robe of ftatc, which is of white 

 fattin. 



Avis, Bird. /Ives, Birds, among Nafuralr^i, the fecond 

 clafs of animals; a race of creatures fufiiciently diftinguifiied 

 from the others in having the body covered with feathers, 

 two feet, and two wings formed for flight. Birds have the 

 mandible protracted and naked, and are deftitute of external 

 ears, lips, teeth, fcrotum, womb, urinary veifel or bladder, 

 epiglottis, corpus callofum, or its fornix (covering of the 

 two lateral ventricles of the brain, or its arch) and dia- 

 phragm. — In the Linnrean fyilem, birds are divided into fix 

 orders; viz. accipitrcs, pica:, anferes, gralla:, galliax, and 

 pafTeres. See Ornithology. 



Avis, Longa, in Ornithology, a name given by Nieremberg 

 to the hoitlattotl of the Americans, a bird remarkable foriti 

 fwiftnefs in running. The hoitlattotl appears to be the 

 phafumuj mexicanus of Gmchn, znd courier pheaj'jnl of La- 

 tham. 



Avis Nivea, a name under which Nieremberg has de- 

 fcribed an American bird of the fize of a thrudi ; of a brown 

 and black colour on the back, and yellow under tlie belly; 

 it imitates the human voice, and is called by the nativet 

 ceoan. 



Avis Penn'ipulchra, the nam.e of an American bird df- 

 fcribed by Nieremberg, and called by the Indians quet-^allototl. 

 It is tlie fize of a pigeon, and is faid to be all over tiie body 

 of the more beautiful colours of the peacock. The fpecici 

 alluded to is not accurately known; and Ray has arranged 

 it with fome others as doubtful kinds. 



Avis Scica, or Hoaali. See Ardea Hoactli, Gmelin; 

 and Hoiii, BuiTon. 



Avis tropicorum, znA avit rales farcados, the name of a 

 bird, among old authors, called in Enghfli the tropic Lird i 

 and by Gmelin Phaeton Aethereus. 



Avis Fenii, " the bird of the wind," or heathtototi; 

 ccatototl, f. avis venti altera, Ray, &c. obfolete names of the 

 Mergus Encullatos, or hooded merganfer, of America. 



Avis Paradifi, bird of Paradife. See Paradisea. 



Ay n Mexicana granSs rubra, Seba. See LoxiA Mexi- 

 can a. 



A\is Ignota piperini. Gefner. See Emberiza Nivalis. 



Avis Americana eri/lata rubeira, Seba. See PlPRA Ru- 

 betra. 



Avis Mexicana altera, Seba. See Pira Ervthroce- 

 phala, &c. &c. 



AVISE, ill Geography, a town of Piedmont, in the 

 duchy of Aofta, in the grand Doria, eight miles weft of 

 Aofta. 



AVISO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, 

 and country of Lavora, i\yi miles eaft tf Sora. 



Aviso, Itahan, advtj'o, chiefly ufed in matters of Com- 

 merce, denotes advice, piece of intelligence, or advertife- 

 inent, to notify fome event or matter worthy of know- 

 ledge. 



AVISON, CHiRLES, in Biography, orgaaiil of Ncw- 

 Y V 2 caftic. 



