GLOSSAEY OF TECHNICAL TEEMS. 



93 



nca e, ) ,-^ mur i C aftus), a. Clothed with sharp points, or prickles, 

 Mu'ricated, J v " v r > r 



Myr'motherine (L. myr mother? nus), a. Applied to birds which feed 

 upon ants. 



Myr'tle Green, n. A dark bluish green color, like the upper surface of 

 leaves of the myrtle (Myrtus communis). (Schoenf eld's " dark zinnober 

 green," or Winsor & Newton's " Prussian green.") (Plate X. fig. 2.) 



N. 



Nape (L. nu'cha), n. The upper portion of the hind-neck, or cervix. 



Na'ples Yel'low, n. A very pale ochrey yellow, varying in shade from 

 a very pale buff (as in the pigment called French Naples-yellow) to a 

 deep yellowish buff or straw-yellow tint (as in the English pigment). 

 (Plate VI. fig. 18.) 



Na'ris (L. ; pi. na'res), n. The nostril. The external nares open upon 

 some part of the maxilla or upper mandible. In some birds (as the 

 Pelicans, Cormorants, and other Steganopodes, and the Toucans, they 

 are basal and more or less obsolete ; in others, as the Woodpeckers 

 and members of the Crow family, they are concealed by the antrorse 

 frontal tufts of feathers. The internal nares open as longitudinal 

 slits in the posterior portion of the palate. 



Na'sal (L. nasa'lis), a. Pertaining to the nostrils. 



Na'sal operculum, n. The scale or hardened membrane overhanging 

 the nostril in some birds. (Plate XII. fig. 9.) 



Nas'cent, a. Beginning to grow or exist, or in process of development. 

 A nascent species is one which is yet connected with the ancestral stock 

 by individuals of intermediate character. Well-known examples may 

 be cited in the Colaptes auratns and C. mexicanus, which possess very 

 uniform and pronounced characteristics of color, etc., but are con- 

 nected by specimens of intermediate characters, formerly supposed 

 to be hybrids, but which are now with good reason believed to be 

 merely representatives of the ancestral stock, and tending more or 

 less toward one or the other of the extremes of differentiation 

 represented by the above-named nascent species. 



Nata'tion, n. Act of swimming. 



Natato'res (L.), n. Swimming birds, as geese, ducks, gulls, etc. 



Natato'rial (L. natato'rius), a. Capable of swimming; pertaining to the 

 act of swimming, or to swimming birds. 



Navic'ular (L. navicula'ris), a. Boat-shaped. 



Nearc'tic (L. nearc'ticus), a. Pertaining to the northern portion of the 

 New World or Western Hemisphere. The Nearctic Realm, or 

 Region, is a primary zoo-geographical division of the earth's surface, 



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