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Baltimore Oriole Princeton Audubon Limited Edition
Northern Oriole, Icterus galbula, Flora: tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera Print size: 26 1/4" x 39 1/4"; image size: 19 1/2" x 24 3/4" Princeton Audubon Limited Edition - produced 1985 This print, of two male orioles and a female (shown clinging to the nest), is from a composition painted in Louisiana in 1822 and completed in 1825. The artist, Joseph Mason, also worked on the background. More than half a century earlier, the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus, in a scientific description of this orange and black American oriole, had named the bird in honor of Cecil Calvert, second Baron of Baltimore, because Lord Baltimore's family colors were also orange and black. Now known as the northern oriole, its mellow whistle, loud, clear, and rather low-pitched, is a sure sign of the retreat of winter. The nest is a remarkable example of design and craftsmanship created by the female alone. First, she ties suspension strings to a long, sweeping branch, forming the warp through which to weave an assortment of plant fibers, milkweed stalks, strips of bark, horse hair, or cord. The completed structure is gourd shaped, gray colored, and lined with feathers, plant down, or wool. Audubon noted that in the South the birds built a loosely-woven nest, "in such a manner that the air can easily pass through it," yet, if farther North, "they would have formed it of the warmest and softest materials."
SKU: 22112
Category: Posters and Prints
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