Hooded Warbler. Sylvia mitrata [current name: Hooded Warbler. Wilsonia citrina], from "The Birds of America," plate CX
Not on view
This print from Audubon's The Birds of America represents an adult male and female perched on branches of Coral Bean and Virginia Dayflower. The male above, faces left and has yellow under feathers, a green back and wings with black stripes, and a black cap covering all but the areas around the eyes and forehead. The female, below, faces right and has green back feathers, black and green striped wings, a yellow underbody and face and abbreviated green head cap. This is a first variant, before the plate number was changed from 110 to CX. Audubon titled the related painting "Hooded Fly Catcher (femelle, Muscicapa Cucullata)" and wrote on the plate "Louisiana, August 11, 1821". He spent that summer at Oakley the Pirrie plantation near St. Francisville, employed as a tutor. While he correctly identified the birds here, he failed to recognize a bird represented in Plate IX as an immature example of the same species and, thinking it a new discovery, named it Selby's Flycatcher.
Audubon placed the birds in his prints amongst plants native to their habitats, a significant departure from traditional natural history drawing practice. Also innovative was to often show birds in movement and, when more than one appear, from different points of view to display more of their plumage. Engraved text below gives English vernacular names for the birds followed by Latin, with plants identified in the same way. Full sets of The Birds of America contain 435 life-sized depictions. Over thirteen years, subscribers periodically received sets of five prints (each set containing images of two small, one medium sized and one large bird species). Engraved numbers at upper left and right identify the set number and individual plate number. Double elephant-folio sized sheets of paper were used, no matter the size of the printing plate, to allow the sets to be bound together once complete. Fewer than two hundred full sets were produced. When later divided, previous owners of individual prints often trimmed the margins. This work retains its original margins.
