turritellidæ

pl. [Mod. Lat.turritell (a); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -idœ.] Zool.: A family of Holostomatous Gasteropod a, with five genera. Shell tubular or spiral; upper part partitioned off; aperture simple; operculum horny, many-whorled. Animal with a short muz zle; eyes immersed at outer bases of the tentacles; mantle margin fringed; foot very short; branchial plume single. 2. Palæont .: They appear to have commenced about the middle of the Jura ic period, abounding in the Tertiaries, and attaining their maximum in existing seas. tur-ri-tis, s . [ Lat.turritus =fortified with tow. ers; turris a tower; because the leaves become gradually smaller upward, so that the plant a umes a pyramidal form.] Bot.: Tower-mustard; a genus of Arabide (q. v.), having the pod elongated, compre ed, and two edged, the valves nerved or keeled, the calyx nearly equal at the base. Turritis glabra ( = Arabis perfo liata ) is a Crucifer, with its stem one to two-and-ahalf feet high, with oblong, lanceolate, glaucous leaves, the radical ones toothed or sinuate at the base, the cauline ones sagittate; the flowers yellowish-white, the pods long and erect. tür-tle (1), tur-tür, subst . [A. S., from Latin turtura turtle-dove; a word probably of imitative origin, from the coo of the pigeon; German turtel taube a turtle-dove; Ital. tortora , tortola ; French tourtre.] The same as TURTLE-DOVE (q. v.). "And of faire Britomart ensample take, That was as trew in love as turtle to her mate." Spenser: F. Q. , III. xi. 2. turtle-dove, s. 1. Ornith.: Turtur communis , widely distributed in the warmer parts of the Old World. It is a beautiful bird, of somewhat slender form, a summer visitant to the cooler latitudes, arriving in May and departing in September. The male is about a foot long, with the head light bluish gray, the back grayish-brown, the scapulars and small wing-coverts black, with broad rust-red margins, the breast pale grayish-purple, the neck with two large black spots barred with white. The female is rather smaller, with similar plumage, but of duller tints. They feed on grain and vegetables, often frequenting fields of beans and peas. They make a slight, flat nest of a few twigs, in which two glo y, creamy-white eggs are deposited about the middle of May, and the parent birds take turns at incubation, sometimes rearing two broods in a season. The note is a soft, mournful "coo," often uttered when the bird is on the ground. From its habit of pairing for life, and its fidelity to its mate, the turtle-dove has long been a symbol of conjugal affection. 2. Script .: [Heb. tor , an onomatopoetic name from the cooing of the bird, generally in connection with yon ah dove.] Probably either Turtur communis or T. risorius. The latter bird is about ten inches in length; tail short; general color gray, tinged with red, upper parts greenish brown, with a black collar on the back of the neck.