The two mandibles are movable, and the edges of each bend inwards; the opening of the mouth is not in a straight line as in other birds, but at the base, the junction is formed by an obtuse angle in the lower mandible, nearly one-third of its length, which is received by a corresponding angle in the upper one; in the latter there is a strong knob, of great use in breaking the harder kinds of seeds and kernels, on which it feeds. The tongue is narrow, and tapers to a point like a toothpick; the first joint of the outer toe is joined to that of the middle one.—_Bewick._ BUOY, _s._ A piece of cork or wood tied to a weight. Dog or sheep skins prepared with a coating of tar and tallow, are used for suspending spellits and herring nets—on the western and southern coasts of Ireland they are called _puckawns_. BUOY, _v._ To keep afloat. BUOYANCY, _s._ The quality of floating. BUR, _s._ A rough head of a plant. BURBOT, _s._ A fish full of prickles. BURN, _v._ To consume with fire; to wound with fire. BURNISH, _v._ To polish. BURNISHER, _s._ The person that burnishes or polishes; the tool used—it is commonly a dog’s tooth set in a stick. BURROW, _s._ Holes made in the ground by rabbits. BURROW, _v._ To mine as conies or rabbits. BURST, _v._ To break suddenly. BURST, _s._ A cry of hounds. BURT, _s._ A flat fish of the turbot kind. BUSH, _s._ A thick shrub. BUSHEL, _s._ A measure containing eight gallons; a strike. BUSHY, _a._ Thick; full of small branches; full of bushes. BUSS, _s._ A vessel for fishing—a herring boat. BUSTARD, (_Otis Tarda_, LINN.; _L’Outarde_, _Buff._) [Illustration]