Kentucky Warbler by John James Audubon

An archival premium Quality Art Print of the Kentucky Warbler by John James Audubon. In this painting Audubon features a male and female of this bird species, which are setting in a magnolia or cucumber tree. The male is going after a spider which is hanging down beside the tree, while the female is going after a bug that is in a leaf in the magnolia tree. Both of these little songbirds are a bright yellow in color, they are also known as the Kentucky Fly catching Warbler. This bird was drawn by Audubon for his great ornithology book, The Birds of America and this was plate or picture number 38 in the first Havell edition. In the lower right corner is Engraved, Printed and Colored by R. Havell and Sons, London 1828. Sylvia Formosa - Mr. Audubon describes the Kentucky Flycatching Warbler thus "This beautiful species is the most common and abundant that visits the State of Louisiana and those States situated on the borders of the Mississippi. In Kentucky it is much less common, and in the State of Ohio scarcer still. It is an extremely active and lively bird. It is found in all the low rounds and damp places near water-courses, and generally among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. Continually in motion, it is seen hopping in every direction from stalk to stalk, or from one twig to another, preying upon insects and larvae, or picking small berries, seldom, however, pursuing insects on wing. During spring, its agreeable notes are heard in every quarter. They are emphatic, and resemble the words tweedle, tweedle, tweedle, distinctly repeated. This little bird is seen at intervals of a few minutes on the skirts of the tall plants, peeping cunningly to discover whether any intruders may be near; after which it immediately re-enters the thicket, and repeats its little ditty. I never saw this bird fly farther than a few yards at a time. Its flight is low, and performed in a quick gliding manner, the bird throwing itself into the nearest bush or thicket of tall grass.The branch on which two of these birds are represented, is that of the tree commonly called the white cucumber, a species of magnolia. It flowers as early in the season as the dog-wood. The flowers open before the leaves are expanded, and emit an odor resembling that of a lemon, but soon becoming disagreeable, as the blossom fades. This tree seldom grows to the height of thirty feet, and is consequently disregarded as a timber-tree. I have met with it only in the States of Mississippi and Louisiana, where it grows on the grounds preferred by the Kentucky Warbler during its stay in those States". Audubon bird print #38