The Mocking Bird

Robert Havell after John James Audubon

National Gallery of Art

This print features four birds and a rattlesnake surrounding a nest that is nestled among yellow flowering vines. The snake is in the center of the print, its mouth open and teeth visible as it lunges to the left towards one of the birds. Another bird is behind it, appearing to peck its yellow eye. Two more birds perch on branches above the nest, looking down. Two of the four birds have blue bodies, and two have black-and-white bodies; they all have black-and-white wings and tails. The nest in the center of the tangle of sticks and flowering vines contains a few small, blue-green eggs. The background behind the nest and birds is beige paper.