Printed on the plate
“Cuckoo”
Cuculus canorus
Engraved caption: CUCULUS CANORUS, Linn.
Modern identification
Printed “Cuckoo”
Cuculus canorus
- Certain
- Checked against the engraved caption
- Cuckoos · Cuculidae
Why
Cuculus canorus = Common Cuckoo; the male drawn from life, and a young bird of the autumn in the background.
Sources
engraved caption; Gould's text; Birds of Europe plate 240; the plate
Figure foster parent
Motacilla alba
- Certain
- Shown as a subspecies
- Wagtails and Pipits · Motacillidae
Why
The foster parent feeding the young Cuckoo in the background ('being fed by a Wagtail', Gould) has a black back and bib and a white face: the Pied Wagtail, M. alba yarrellii (III.1). The caption names only the Cuckoo.
Sources
Gould's text; the plate
Who made the plate
J. Gould and H. C. Richter, del. et lith.Walter & Cohn, Imp.
- John Gould drew and lithographed
- Henry Constantine Richter drew and lithographed
- Walter & Cohn printed
As the credit line gives it. More on who made these plates.
