Estrelda Ruficauda- Red Tailed Finch

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Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D

Artist/Maker

Gould, John (published)

Gould, Elizabeth (artist)

Depicts two Estrelda Ruficauda birds, also known as Red Tailed Finches.

Object details

Categories	Prints Animals and Wildlife
Object type	print
Title	Estrelda Ruficauda- Red Tailed Finch (published title)
Materials and techniques	Lithograph, hand coloured Paper Lithographic Ink Lithograph
Brief description	'Estrelda Ruficauda- Red Tailed Finch', lithograph from 'Birds of Australia' by John Gould, 1842
Physical description	Depicts two Estrelda Ruficauda birds, also known as Red Tailed Finches.
Dimensions	Window size height: 440mm Window size width: 330mm
Marks and inscriptions	Estrelda Ruficauda (inscribed bottom centre)
Gallery label	(1842) Estrelda Ruficauda, Gould Amadina reficauda, Gould in Proc. Of Zool, Sco, Part IV, p. 106, and in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part 1 I observed this beautiful Finch rather thinly dispersed on the sides of the river Namoi, particularly along the sloping banks covered with herbage, where it appeared to be feeding upon such grasses and other annuals as afforded seeds congenial to its taste; I also frequently observed it among the rushes which grown in the beds of mud alongside the sides of the water; and this, I regret to say, is all the information I have to communicate respecting it. It is a species seldom seen in collections, which may be attributed to the circumstance of its being strictly confined to the interior, a part of the country where collections are much less frequently formed than near the coast. The only parts of Australia whence I have received or in which I have killed it, are the Liverpool Plains, and the banks of the rivers Mokai and Namoi. The adult male and female are scarcely to be distinguished in outward appearance; the female is, however, a trifle less than her mate in size. The young, on the contrary, present a very different appearance; the whole of their plumage being of a uniformly buffy brown; eye yellowish olive surrounded by a narrow olive lash; bill reddish brown; legs brownish yellow. Face and cheeks scarlet, the latter covered with narrow feathers, which are finely spotted with white at the tip; upper surface and wings olive brown; upper tail-coverts and tail deep crimson-brown, the former having a large spot of pinkish white near the tip of each feather; throat, chest and flanks delicate olive-grey, each feather having a large oval white spot transversely diposed near the tip; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts dirty yellowish white; bill scarlet; irides orange slightly inclining to hazel, surrounded by a rather broad, naked, flesh-coloured lash; legs and feet rather darker than fine lemon-yellow. The figures are natural size.
Object history	John Gould was an English bird expert and artist who travelled to Australia in 1838 to study, describe and illustrate Australia’s bird species. His travels set him apart from the huge number of bird experts studying British species at the time, and in in these seven volumes Gould described many Australian birds for the first time. The prints within ‘The Birds of Australia’ were created using lithography, with the plates being created by Elizabeth Gould, Edward Lear, Waterhouse Hawkins and H.C. Richter. Gould himself wrote lengthy descriptions of each bird’s appearance and nature, which can be seen on the reverse of these prints.
Bibliographic reference	Isabella Tree ‘The Ruling Passion of John Gould: A biography of the bird man’, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd., London, 1991, p. 62
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	C.19607

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Record created	November 13, 2017
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1425046/estrelda-ruficauda--red-tailed-print-gould-john/

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