Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/197

CANVASBACK. 161 CAP DE LA HAGUE. CANVASBACK. An American fresh-water UiU'k {Ai/tliim inllisneria) . regarded as superior to all others for food. It breeds from Dakota northward, but most numerously in the far north, making its nest on the ground, in a marsh, and laving six to ten greenish-butT eggs. (For illustration, see Plate of Dicks. Wild.) The canvasbacks begin to come southward along in- land waterways in Xovember, and spread over all the Middle and Southern United States. They are attracted in greatest numbers to the extensive marshes and river tints about Lakes Huron and Erie and around Chesapeake Bay, but are also irregularly numerous wherever their favorite food grows in the Mississippi Valley and on the 'slews' of the plains. This food is the wild celery {Zostera vallisneria) , which grows densely on fresh-water shoals in from 7 to 9 feet of water, like a tall grass, the root of which is white and has some resemblance to small celery. Wherever this plant grows in abundance, the canvasbacks may be expected," says Wilson ; "while in waters unprovided with this nutritious plant they arc altogether un- known. . . . They float about these shoals, diving and tearing up the grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat." It is not quite true to saj' that they will eat nothing else, for celery is not always available. They are ex- tremely shy, quick and strong in flight, and re- inarkalilv expert in diving, so that all the skill and strategy at the disposal of the gunner is necessary to success in shooting them. They are so relentlessly pursued, however, that their numbers are far less in all their haunts than formerly ; and verj' many of the alleged can- vasbacks sent to market are realh' redheads (q.v.), a closely related and nearly as good duck, of similar habits, but less strongly addict- ed to the celery diet. The male canvasback has a head reddish, but much obscured with dusk}- tints, while that of the redheaa is clear, bright chestnut, and the bill is blackish (not blue). The back and sides are whitish (less dark than that of the redhead), marked with sparse, wavy lines and dots, suggesting the surface of coarse canvas. The fore part of the body, rump, and tail-coverts are black ; speculum, bluish-grav' ; length, about 20 inches. Consult Elliott, Wild I'owl of North America (New York, 1898). CANZONE, k-an-tscVna (It., from Lat. cantio, song I . Tlic name of one of the oldest and most prized forms of the Italian lyric. The word is borrowed from the Provencals, whose cansos or chansos, however, were not restricted to any precise form, but were simply verses intended to be sung. The Italian writers first attempted to regulate the wayward and arbitrary char- acter of the Provencal cansos, Dante, and subse- quently Petrarch, being especially successful. The canzone petrarchesca or toscana was any considerable lyric poem, composed of stanzas exactly corresponding to one another in number of lines, measure, and position of rhymes, and which customarily closed with a .short stanza. Petrarch has no canzone of more than ten or fewer than five stanzas, though later canzoni contain twenty, forty, and even eighty. The number of lines in each stanza varies in Dante and Petrarch between nine and twenty. About the end of the Sixteenth Centurv' the Italian writers began to deviate from the' strict form of the Petrarchian canzone. Torquato Tasso and Cliia- brera are the most notable names in the new movement. The most of the canzoni of the latter — called by their author canzonet te—a.re written in short lines and stanzas, he position of the rh.mies being also completely arbitrary. CAONABO, kii'o-na-bo' ( ? -1496). A Carib Indian who was cacique of Maguana, Hispaniola (Haiti), in 1402. He was married to the famous Anacaona. and in 1493 captured the fortress of La Xavidad, Haiti, and massacred the Spaniards left there by Columbus. At the head of 10,000 warriors he headed the general league against the whites in 1494, but was overcome bv Columbus at the Vega Real (April 2.5, 149.5)', and shortly afterwards was captured by Ojeda. In 149G he was put on a vessel bound for Spain, but died during the voyage. CAOUTCHOUC, koo'chook. See Rubbeb. CAPACITY (Fr. capacite, Lat. capacitas, from capax, capacious, from capere, to hold). Legal. The power and competency to incur an obliga- tion or to enjoy a legal right. Sometimes the test of capacity is natural, and at other times artificial. lu the case of citizens of full age, the natural test of rationality or intelligence is usu- ally applied. If one has the ability to under- stand the nature and effect of the act in which he is engaged, he is legally capable of doing it. It is in this sense that the phrase testamentart/ capacity is commonly employed. With respect to the enjoyment of rights, however, the test is more often the artificial one of age. coverture, or marriage, alienage, and the like. Whether a particular person of full age and sound mind ma.v hold an office or exercise its elective fran- chise, or acquire particular kinds of property, depends upon artificial rules established by law. See Age; Alien ; Ixfaxt; Mabried Women; Officer : Voter. CAPACITY, Electric. See Electricity, where, under EIrrtro.ttatics, the subject of Ca- pacity will be found discussed. CAP A L'AIGLE, kap a la'gl'. See iluBBAY Bat. CAPA'NEUS, One of the seven heroes of the expedition against Thebes. He defied Jupiter and was struck by lightning while in the act of scal- ing the walls. CAP-A-PIE, kap'-a-ps' (Fr., head to foot). In the military language of the Middle Ages, a term applied to a knight or soldier armed at all points, or from head to foot, with armor for de- fense and weapons for attack. CAPA Y ESPADA, k-i'pa e es-pii'na (Sp., cloak and sword), Comedias df. A name given to the intrigue plays of Calderon and Lope de Vega, which deal with contemporary aristocratic life in Spain, and introduce the 'cloak' and 'sword' as stock articles of the dress of their principal characters. CAP DE LA HAGUE, de la hag (Fr., Cape of The Hague). A promontory of France, form- ing the northwestern extremity of the Peninsula of Cotentin, in the Department of Manche (Map: France, E 2). It juts into the English Channel, opposite the island of Alderney. about If) miles northwest of Cherbourg. It protects, on the east, the roadstead of La Hogue, or Hougue, whence arises the frequent misnomer of Cape La