Long-Tailed Cuckoos, Brazilian Bird Print, Descourtilz, 1944

Long-tailed cuckoos print after Descourtilz, 1944: this is Estampa 15 from the Ornitologia Brasileira, the Kosmos edition of the French painter's paintings of Brazilian birds.

Three birds are arranged on branching perches, each shown with its tail treated as a principal feature of the design. At the top, a bird with glossy dark green plumage and a pale eye grips a bare branch, its very long tail, blue-black and slightly pointed, hanging well below the perch. Below and to the right, a second bird, streaked buff and brown over the back with a paler throat, is shown with its own long tail spread into a broad fan of reddish-brown feathers narrowly tipped in white, filling much of the upper right of the plate. At the bottom, a third bird with rufous-brown upperparts, a pale face and throat, and a soft blue-gray breast perches on a separate low branch, its bill short and slightly curved. The three birds are set against plain toned paper, the branches sketched only enough to give each a foothold.

Livraria Kosmos Editora published the Ornitologia Brasileira ou História Natural das Aves do Brasil, notáveis por sua plumagem, canto e hábitos in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1944. This first Portuguese edition, translated by Eurico Santos from the French original of the 1850s, was limited to 1,315 copies (1,000 plus 315 numbered). All 48 plates are color offset prints of Descourtilz's paintings of Brazilian birds, each captioned "Estampa" with its number on a toned card within a printed green ornamental border.

Jean-Théodore Descourtilz (circa 1796 to 1855) was a French painter and naturalist who traveled to Brazil in the late 1820s and devoted himself to painting its birds; his first work on the birds of Brazil appeared in 1834.

Strong in color and suitable for framing, this long-tailed cuckoos print after Descourtilz would make a handsome addition to a collection of ornithology prints or a colorful focal point for a library or garden room.

This plate is in good condition for its age. The mount shows ordinary age toning, with a few small spots, a small surface crease in the upper left and light edge wear. Please review the images for further condition details.