|
CLICK image Above
for LODGING
Hotels and motels
Florida Keys
and Key West
|
John
Audubon observes
the Gray Kingbird
April or
May - Audubon paints the Pipery Flycatcher also known as
the Gray Tyrant and Gray Kingbird
Gray
Kingbird
This Gray
Kingbird was painted in the Florida Keys in April or May
of 1832. The Gray Kingbird sits on a branch of the
Australian corkwood-tree which was added by Lehman in
early May while in Key West.
Part of
what Audubon writes in his Ornithological
Biography, Volume. II, pages 392 to ,395 appears
below:
Audubon
wrote,
"The
branch on which I represented a Male in full plumage,
is that of a species rather rare on the Florida Keys,
although as I was assured it abounds in Cuba. It
blooms during the season when this bird builds its
nest. The flower is destitute of secent; the fruit is
a long narrow legume, containing numerous seeds,
placed at equal distances."
Above
image from Historical Museum of Southern
Florida
- Audubon images at the
Historical
Museum website were
produced from prints of an original Elephant Folio
belonging to the museum.
http://www.historical-museum.org/collect/audubon/audubon.htm)
See Audubon
House
TO
BUY
Click
Here for information on the Gray Kingbird print
"Having
landed on one of the Florida Keys, I scarcely had time
to cast a glance over the diversified vegetation which
presented itself, when I observed a pair of birds
mounting perpendicularly in the air twittering with a
shrill continued note new to me. The country itself
was new: it was what my mind had a thousand times
before conceived a tropical scene to be. As I walked
over plants, curious and highly interesting to me, my
sensations were joyous in the highest degree, for I
saw that in a few moments I should possess a new on
which I could look with delight, as one of the great
Creator's marvelous works. "
"I
was on one of those yet unknown islets, which the foot
of man has seldom pressed. A Flycatcher unknown to me
had already presented itself, and the cooing of a Dove
never heard before came on my ear. I felt some of that
pride, which doubtless pervades the breast of the
discoverer of some hitherto unknown land. Although
desirous of obtaining the birds before me, I had no
wish to shoot them at that moment. My gun lay loosely
in my arms, my eyes were riveted on the Flycatchers,
my ears open to the soft notes of the Doves. Reader,
such are the moments, amid days of toil and
discomfort, that compensate for every privation. It is
on such occasions that the traveler feels most
convinced, that the farther he proceeds, the better
will be his opportunities of observing the results of
Devine conception. What else, I would ask of you, can
be more gratifying to the human
intellect"
Additional
information about the gray kingbird may be found by
following the link below to the Florida Breeding Bird
Atlas. The Atlas, a collaborative effort of Audubon of
Florida, the Florida Ornithological Society, and the
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
provides information of general status, habitat, and
status of breeding species in Florida
http://wildflorida.org/bba/GRKI.htm
Additional
information about the gray kingbird may be found by
following this link to eNature.com
THIS
PAGE CREATED BY FLORIDA KEYS BEST
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
http://www.floridakeysbest.com site
map
email@floridakeysbest.com
Florida
Keys Best
386 East Seaview Drive
Marathon, Florida 33050
305-289-1872
|
