sparkler

[ Eng.sparkl ( e ); -er.] One who or that which sparkles; one whose eyes sparkle. "See the sparkler shaking her elbow for a whole night together, and thumping the table with a dice-box."Guardian, No. 120. *spark-lět, s . [Eng. spark ( le ), s.; dim. suff. -let .] A little spark. ( Cotton : Ode to Night .) *spark-li-ne , s. [Eng. sparkli(ng); -ne .] The quality or state of being sparkling; vivacity. "Sir John [Suckling] threw his repartees about the tables with much sparkline , and gentile ne of witt." -Aubrey: Anecdotes , ii. 551. spark-ling, pr. par. & a. [SPARKLE (1), v.] A. As pr. par.: (See the verb.) B. As adj .: Emitting sparks, glittering; hence, brilliant, lively, bright. "And he continued, when worse days were come, To deal about his sparkling eloquence." Words worth: Excursion, bk. ii. spark-ling lý, adv . [Eng. sparkling ; -ly .] In a sparkling manner; with vividne or brilliancy. "Diamonds sometimes would look more sparklingly than they were wont."- Boyte: Works, i. 402. perse. *sparre, 8. [SPAR (1), 8.] *sparre, v . t . [SPAR (1), v.] spăr-rōw, *spar-ewe, *spar we, s . [Mid. Eng. spar we , spare we ; A. S. spearwa : Icel. spor : Dan. spurv : Sw. sparf ; O. H. Ger. sparo ; M. H. Ger. spar, whence Ger. sperling ; all from Teut. type sparwa (lit.=a flutterer), from root spar- =to quiver. hence to flutter.] [SPAR (2), v.] Ornith.: Pa er domestic us ( Pyrgita domestic a , Cuvier), the House Sparrow, a well-known bird. the constant follower of civilized man. It ranges over Europe, into the north of Africa and Asia, and has been introduced into America and Australia. Sparrows are found even in crowded cities and in manufacturing towns, these differing only from country birds in being dirtier, and, if po ible, more daring. Mantle of male brown striped with black; head bluish-gray; two narrow bands, one white and the other rusty-yellow, on wings; cheeks grayish-white, front of neck black, under-parts light-gray. From a high antiquity, their great fecundity, their attachment to their young. their extreme pugnacity, and the large tolls they levy on the farmer and market gardener have been commented on by writers on ornithology, but opinions have long been divided on the subject of their alleged service to man in destroying insect pests. Farmers have, however, settled the question to their own satisfaction, and in many places a small sum is paid for the destruction of these birds, the legislatures of some of the states having made appropr.ations for this fund. Mr. J. H. Gurney in The House Sparrow (published 1885) conclusively shows, from a number of di ections, that the sparrow's food, to the amount of seventy five per cent., consists of grain, and only ten per cent. of insects. Dr. Coues ( The English Sparrow in America , 1885), says that these birds, introduced to keep down insect life, "have proved a failure. and are now generally regarded as a distinct curse.' The name sparrow is also loosely applied to several of the Fringillide. [HEDGE-SPARROW, REED-SPARRow, TREE-SPARROW.] sparrow-bill, s. [SPARABLE.] sparrow-hawk, s. Ornithology: Accipiter nisus , extending acro Europe, through Asia to Japan. The adult male is about twelve inches long, dark-brown on the upper surface, softening into gray as the bird grows old; the entire under-surface is rusty-brown, with bands of a darker shade. The female is about fifteen inches long, the upper surface nearly resembling that of male bird in ground-color, but having many of the feathers white at the base; under surface grayish-white, with dark transverse bars. The Sparrow-hawk is very destructive to small quadrupeds and young birds. The hen lays four or five egzs irregularly blotched with brownish-crimson on a bluish-white ground. The name is also applied to the American falcon, the Australian collared sparrow-hawk, the European kestrel, and the New Zealand quail-hawk.