Grey currawong

Grey currawong.
The grey currawong (Strepera versicolor) is a large passerine bird native to southern Australia, including Tasmania. One of three currawong species, it is a large crow-like bird, around 48 cm (19 in) long, with yellow irises, a heavy bill, and dark plumage, with a white undertail and wing patches. The male and female are similar in appearance. The six subspecies are distinguished by their overall plumage shade. They have a distinctive loud ringing or clinking call. The currawong is generally sedentary, although it is a winter visitor in south-easternmost Australia. Much of its behaviour and habits is poorly known. It is a ground-foraging omnivore and builds its nests high in trees. It is found in forests and scrubland in drier regions. Unlike its more common relatives, it has adapted poorly to human impact, and has declined in much of its range.

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Portrait of a Musician

Portrait of a Musician.
The Portrait of a Musician is an unfinished painting widely attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. His only known male portrait painting, it was probably painted between 1483 and 1487 while Leonardo was in Milan. It has been in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan since at least 1672. Perhaps influenced by Antonello da Messina's introduction of the Early Netherlandish style of portrait painting to Italy, the work marks a shift from the profile portraiture that predominated in 15th-century Milan. It shares many similarities with other paintings Leonardo executed there, such as the Virgin of the Rocks and the Lady with an Ermine. Most current scholarship attributes at least the portrait's face to Leonardo, based on stylistic resemblances to his other works. Uncertainty over the rest of the painting is due to the stiff and rigid qualities of the body, which are uncharacteristic of Leonardo's work.

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Margaret (singer)

Margaret (singer).
Margaret (born 1991) is a Polish singer and songwriter. Before her mainstream debut, she performed with underground bands, recorded soundtracks for television commercials and produced a fashion blog. Through her blogging, she was discovered by music manager Sławomir Berdowski and signed by the record label Extensive Music. Margaret gained international recognition with her singles "Thank You Very Much" (2013) and "Cool Me Down" (2016), the first of which was included on her first extended play (EP) All I Need, and charted in several European countries. In 2014, she released her debut studio album Add the Blonde, which reached the top ten in the Polish charts. By re-releasing it in 2016, Margaret had her first Polish top five and Sweden-charting single with "Cool Me Down". In 2015, she recorded a collaborative jazz album with Matt Dusk titled Just the Two of Us. Her third studio album, Monkey Business (2017), became her second top-ten album in Poland. (This article is part of a featured topic: Overview of Margaret.)

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Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC)

Siege of Lilybaeum (250–241 BC).
The Siege of Lilybaeum lasted from 250 to 241 BC, as the Roman army laid siege to the Carthaginian-held Sicilian city of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala; reconstruction pictured) during the First Punic War. Lilybaeum was well-fortified and situated on the coast, where it could be supplied and reinforced by sea. In mid–250 BC the Romans besieged the city with more than 100,000 men. They made a concerted effort to take it by assault, but were unsuccessful. The Romans then attacked the Carthaginian fleet, but their fleet was itself destroyed in the naval battles of Drepana and Phintias. In 242 BC, the Romans built a new fleet and cut off supplies. The Carthaginians reconstituted their fleet and despatched it to Sicily loaded with provisions. The Romans met it not far from Lilybaeum and defeated it at the Battle of the Aegates in 241 BC. The Carthaginians sued for peace and the war ended after 23 years with a Roman victory; by the terms of the Treaty of Lutatius Carthage evacuated the city.