What a pretty bird pair! A lovely full-color bird book plate from the Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1889. They were labeled Pachyprora Mixta. Sadly, like so many of the scientific journals of that era, the labels often include names that have been changed or represent animals that have sadly gone extinct. I hope that this pair represents a species now known by another name.
The only information I have is that this pair of birds was found in Kilimanjaro – the highest mountain in Africa.
Other than their general size, black legs and pretty black swish around their eyes; it might not be obvious that these two pretty birds are the same species. One, presumably the male, has orange shading on an otherwise white belly with orange tipped wings. The female is every bit as striking with dramatic black and white coloring.
Like so many of the wonderful colorized book plates from this work, this bird pair drawing is too large to show on the page here. If you’re interested in this image, be sure to click on what you see here to obtain the largest version we have.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
