Bird with Dramatic Tail

What a treasure trove of wonderful black and white drawings were hidden within Les fleurs animées; an 1867 French 2-volume work. They were most likely seen as page filler and some editions didn’t have them. But, lucky for us, Gutenberg had this one.

This public domain bird with dramatic tail drawing features a perched bird high up in a tree. His tail is practically bigger than the tree. His tail is every bit as spectacular as a peacock’s only it is made up of at least 3 different types of feathers. I’m not sure if this drawing is of a real bird, but, it just seems like he would have bright orange or red feathers. Which, since this engraving is in black and white, wouldn’t be hard to do.

vintage engraving of a bird with a dramatic tail

This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.