Natural history study of a white cockatoo with pink crest perched on a small branch protruding from a mound on the ground. Executed in the manner of William Hayes, possibly by him or a member of his family, or perhaps by another botanical artist working in his style in the same period.

Hayes published volumes on British birds and on "rare and curious birds" during the 18th Century. Whenever possible, like Audubon, Hayes depicted birds at life size. He employed no fewer than seven of his children in printing, coloring and assembling volumes, and at least some of his bird illustrations were drawn by other members of his large family. As orders for copies of his books came in, available prints were assembled in what has been described as "a production line of unrivalled chaos" so that the actual contents received by a given subscriber varied.

References:

"Illustration Processes." Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina. 15 October 2001. http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/audubon/audubon5.html (14 March 2002).

"Page 1 of 28.14." Raymond M. Sutton, Jr., Books. http://www.suttonbooks.com/cgi-bin/catalog.pl?q_incat=136&page=1

Nissen IVB 422, for first 2 volumes 1794-1799