Lark Finch, Prairie Finch and Brown Song Sparrow

Robert Havell after John James Audubon

National Gallery of Art

The image shows four birds perched and positioned among sparse vegetation. The largest bird is brown and gray with white and reddish accents on its head, perched on a branch in the upper portion of the image. Below and slightly to the right, there is a black bird with a distinctive blue beak perched on the same branch. Lower and to the left, a second brown bird with darker brown and white wing stripes is seen on the ground among the grass. Near this bird sits a smaller, brown bird with white and dark streaked feathers. The color palette of the image includes various shades of brown, green, gray, black, white, and a hint of blue. The birds are primarily oriented along the left half and center of the image, with grass and leaves filling in the background on the lower half.