Audubon’s portrait of the unassuming Bachman’s Warblers isn’t one of his best works. The little birds just sit there, away from each other, the male posing closer to the center of the picture and the female cowering on a branch right at the bottom, as if aware of her inferior rank in life. Their colors–a subtle symphony of yellow, green, black, and grey—blend with the colors of the shrub included in the picture, making them a little hard to spot, as if Audubon were playing a game with us: “Find the bird in this picture!” More

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