In the days when colour printing was extremely expensive, the Avicultural Society had special appeals for funds to support the appearance in Avicultural Magazine of the occasional colour plate. A well-known bird artist was then commissioned. Although the whole run of the Society’s magazines can be found online, the plates rarely see the light of day. Therefore I decided to show one, now and again, on this site. This is the 3rd in the series.
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This plate illustrates an article by Derek Goodwin (Richard Patrick Goodwin 1920 –2008) who went on to write the book Estrildid Finches of the World in 1984.
This bird is usually called the Blue-capped Waxbill (Uraeginthus cyanocephalus) these days but Blue-capped Cordon-bleu is still seen. It occurs in Tanzania and Kenya with smaller number in countries further north.
The artist for this plate was Chloe Elizabeth Talbot Kelly (born 1927) who went on to illustrate a number of field guides. Her paintings of birds appear in art sales. She began painting in 1945 at the Natural History Museum in London, the place of work of Derek Goodwin.
Avicultural Magazine 68, 1962
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