The Bernacle, (_Anas Erythropus_, LINN. _La Bernacle_, BUFF.) weighs about five pounds, and measures more than two feet in length, and nearly four and a half in breadth. The bill, from the tip to the corners of the mouth, is scarcely an inch and a half long, black, and crossed with a pale reddish streak on each side; a narrow black line passes from the bill to the eyes, the irides of which are brown; the head is small, and, as far as the crown, together with the cheeks and throat, white; the rest of the head and neck, to the breast and shoulders, is black; the upper part of the plumage is prettily marbled or barred with blue, grey, black, and white; the feathers of the back are black, edged with white, and those of the wing coverts and scapulars, blue grey, bordered with black near the margins, and edged with white; the quills black, edged a little way from the tips with blue grey; the under parts and tail coverts white; the thighs are marked with dusky lines or spots, and are black near the knees; the tail is black, and five inches and a half long; the legs and feet dusky, very thick and short, and have a stumpy appearance. In severe winters these birds are not uncommon in this kingdom, particularly on the northern and western parts, where, however, they remain only a short time, and depart early in the spring to their northern wilds, to breed and spend the summer.—_Bewick._ BETTER, _s._ One that lays bets or wagers. BEVY, _s._ A flock of quails. BILE, _s._ A thick, yellow, bitter liquor, separated in the liver, collected in the gall bladder, and discharged by the common duct; a sore angry swelling. BILL, _s._ The beak of a fowl; a kind of hatchet with a hooked point. BILLIARDS, _s._ A kind of play upon a flat surface, with cues, maces, and balls. In order to play billiards well, attention must be given at first to the method of holding the mace; to the position in which the player should stand, and the manner of delivering the hall from the mace; but these are much more easily acquired by observation or by the direction of a good player, than by any possible written rules. A person who plays with his right hand must stand with his left foot foremost; and on the contrary he who is left-handed must stand with his right foot foremost, by which he will stand more steady and firm. Immoderate bursts of passion, and even fretting at trifling disappointments in the game, are usually found very prejudicial to the player; his nerves, being affected, it is impossible for him to make the stroke with that steadiness and nicety the game requires. The games usually played till lately were the white winning and the red winning carambole games, but the winning and losing carambole game is now very fashionable. The different games of billiards are—