Scientific Illustration

thebirdsofamerica:

Plate 427 of John Audubon’s The Birds of America, the White-legged Oyster Catcher and the Slender-billed Oyster Catcher. (This bird’s common name, oystercatcher, hasn’t changed since Audubon’s time, and does beg the question- How hard can it be to catch an oyster when you’ve got wing? They aren’t exactly going to run away, are they?) 

(via dendroica)