Night Heron Chick and Spotted Juvenile after Lilian Medland, c. 1909

This is an original antique bird print, a photogravure printed in black and gray tones without added color. It shows two young Night Herons on one sheet. Above, Fig. I is a downy chick sitting on the ground, facing the viewer's left, with a spiky crest of long down on the crown and the stubby wings showing through its fluffy coat. Below, Fig. II is a fully feathered juvenile walking to the right through grass, its dark plumage marked with pale spots and streaks on the wings and back, the dress worn before the black and white adult plumage.

The plate is lettered "PLATE CLIII" at lower right and "1/4 scale" at lower center, the scale at which the bird is drawn. The two birds are lettered "Fig. I" and "Fig. II" in the left margin. The artist's signature, "L. M. M.", is drawn into the image. No species name is printed on the plate; the identification given here is made from the drawing itself.

This plate is from the third volume of The Birds of the British Islands by Charles Stonham, published by E. Grant Richards in London in five volumes between 1906 and 1911. The drawings are by Lilian M. Medland, and the plates were printed by photogravure, an intaglio process made from a photograph of the drawing, which gives the soft, continuous tone and the faint plate mark visible on the sheet. Each bird is shown at a stated fraction of life size, printed beneath the image.

A plain wood or black frame with a wide off white mat suits the quiet tones of this plate.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.