Magpie Jay, Calocitta formosa
Flora: poison ivy, Rhus radicans
Produced in 1985, each of the two jays was painted separately and in 1829 arranged in a composition depicting them perched on a dead limb entwined with poison ivy.
"The specimen from which the drawings were taken," Audubon wrote, "was presented to me by a friend who had received it from the Columbia River, and is the only individual...which I did not receive on the spot."
Actually, the bird is a native of Mexico rather than the Columbia River area in Oregon, and in painting it, Audubon departed from an early resolve never to draw from a stuffed specimen. In so doing, he erred and included the magnificent magpie jay with his northwestern birds.
- Measures 4 x 6 in.
- Made in the USA