Description
Carduelis tristis
Flora: bull thistle, Cirsium vulgare
This print is based on a composition probably painted in August 1824 in New York State, for Audubon wrote: "In ascending along the shores of the Mohawk river, in the month of August, I have met more of these pretty birds in the course of a day's walk than anywhere else, and whenever a thistle was to be seen along either bank of the New York Canal, it was ornamented with one or more Goldfinches."
The goldfinch, a joy to even the most casual observer, is common from ocean to ocean, and its flight call as it dips through the air, per-chic-o-ree, per-chic-o-ree, is as sweet as that of any caged canary. Dr. Frank M. Chapman, in his Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, says that "their song is delivered with an ecstasy and abandon which carries them off their feet, they circle over the field sowing the air with music."
EHJ Print size: 26 1/4" x 39 1/4"; image size: 25 1/2 x 20"
Princeton Audubon Limited Edition - produced 1985
Princeton Audubon prints are direct-camera facsimile lithographs of the Robert Havell Jr. (1793-1878) engravings for The Birds of America (1827-38). Princeton's Double elephant Folio prints are issued in limited editions of 500 or 1500 prints. All are numbered and have a seal in the bottom margin to demonstrate their authenticity.
Printed on heavy Mohawk paper that is recommended by the Library of Congress for archives, the paper is specially toned to match the average paper color of the antique originals.
Item Number:
1710
