The now extinct Passenger Pigeon was one of the most common birds of colonial North America with a population estimated to have been in the billions.

Catesby described their migration, "in winter to Virginia and Carolina, from the North, incredible numbers; insomuch that in some places where they roost (which they do on one another's backs) they often break down the limbs of oaks with their weight ... I have seen them fly in such continued trains three days successively, that there was not the least interval in losing sight of them, but that somewhere or other in the air they were seen to be continuing their flight south."

Unbelievable numbers of the pigeons were slaughtered during their migration; in many parts of the East, they were a cheap dietary staple for several weeks each year. This massive destruction coupled with the decimation of much of their forest habitat reduced their numbers to handfuls by the early 20th century; the last known survivor died in captivity in 1914.

Catesby painted and described his Pigeon of Passage this way: "It is about the size of our English wood-pigeon; the bill black; the iris of the eye red; the head dusky blue; the breast and belly faint red. Above the shoulder of the wing is a patch of feathers that shines like gold ... the tail is very long ..."

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