Catesby's Large Lark is the bird we now know by the name Eastern Meadowlark, though it is in fact a member of the blackbird family (Icteridae).

Catesby observed and drew the Large Lark in Virginia nad Carolina, and noted that it inhabited most of North America. He described it: "The bill is straight, sharp and somewhat flat towards the end. Between the eye and the nostril is a yellow spot. The crown of the head is brown, with a dusky white list running from the bill along the middle of it ... The breast has a large black mark, in form of a horseshoe; except which, the throat and all the underpart of the body is yellow ... They feed mostly on the ground on the seed of grasses."

Catesby depicts his specimen with his botanical documentation of "The Little Yellow Star-flower" -- yellow star grass (Hypoxis sp.).

About Mark Catesby

When Mark Catesby published his landmark work, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731 — 1743), it was the first comprehensive study and illustration of the flora and fauna of the English colonies in the New World.

The Royal Society and its President, Sir Isaac Newton, invited Catesby in 1720 "to Observe the Rarities of the Country for the uses and purposes of the Society". In 1722, Catesby set sail for Charleston, South Carolina and produced hundreds of drawings and watercolors before returning to London four years later.

To reduce the cost of publication, Catesby himself designed, engraved and colored the plates. Each Perfect Recreation™ is made from a pristine First Edition of The Natural History hand colored by Catesby and purchased in the original syndication by Charles Cavendish of the Royal Society and bequeathed to his more famous scientist son, Henry.

In addition to being the first documentation of the wildlife and vegetation of the Americas, The Natural History is the first work of natural history art to place animals in the context and setting of the plants of their natural habitats. This artistic breakthrough is believed to have influenced Audubon's great works a century later.

If you'd like to learn very much more about his landmark work, you might want to buy Empire's Nature: Mark Catesby's New World Vision at Amazon.com