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A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of The Audubon Soci[:ties 



Vol. XXIV January— February, 1922 No. 1 



Courtenay Brandreth's Bird Paintings 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN! 



''T'MIE form of a bird at rest is so definite, its lines so simple and continuous, 

 I that one might imagine they could be reproduced by anyone with even 

 -*- slight talent for drawing. Nevertheless, good bird artists are rare. 

 Possibly the very simplicity of the bird's outline makes it a difficult subject, 

 for although each species possesses its own characteristics of form, pose, and 

 expression, which to the bird student are pronounced and obvious, they are 

 not evident to the artist who has not sufficient interest in bird-life to study his 

 subject sympathetically. How many otherwise excellent paintings are marred 

 by the introduction of the figures of birds as anatomically incorrect as would 

 be a human figure drawn with arms, let us say, attached to the hips instead of 

 to the shoulders! No artist would attempt to draw a man without having 

 previously studied the original; why, therefore, should he hope for success in 

 bird portraiture when he relies on his imagination rather than on nature for a 

 model? 



It requires, however, something more than study from life to produce a 

 wholly adequate bird picture, just as it requires something in addition to good 

 draftsmanship to paint the portrait of a human subject. Where, on the one 

 hand, there is needed that sympathetic insight into human nature which per- 

 mits of character interpretation, so, on the other, there is need for that love of 

 •birds which sees not merely a feathered form but a creature marvelously 

 endowed with its own special traits, disposition, and potentialities, which are 

 evident only to one who is familiar with what we call the habits of his subject. 

 It is clear, for example, that one should not depict a Dove with the expression 

 of a Hawk, but only the bird student knows the difference in expression, 

 physiognomy, and attitude between a Warbler and a Vireo. Without going 

 further it may be said, in a word, that no one has ever reached or ever will 

 reach the first rank of bird artists who is not possessed of that keen interest 

 in birds which marks the born ornithologist. 



This sharp, vibrating response to the sight of a bird or the sound of its 

 voice is a heritage as rare as it is priceless, and when in the fortunate individual 



'Reprinted by permission from 'Natural History' 



