Western Bluebird: a colour plate from 1937

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 24th in the series.

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The plate is by Roland Green (1890-1972) a well-known bird and mammal artist who lived in Norfolk. He was the son of a taxidermist. He illustrated a number of books, including one of his own.

The author of the accompanying text was the well-known aviculturist and very wealthy, Alfred Ezra (1872-1955). He understood that the bird had never been imported into Britain before those brought by Jean Delacour. A pair bred in one of Ezra’s aviaries.

The Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) is from western North America and Mexico.

Avicultural Magazine September 1937