Plate 29. Towhe Bunting 

John James Audubon made this print of a ‘Towhe Bunting,’ or Eastern Towhee, in the early 19th century, as part of his ambitious project to document the birds of America. At the time, ornithology was becoming an increasingly popular scientific pursuit, but also a form of sport and collecting that spoke to America’s project of territorial expansion. Audubon made his images using a combination of observation, taxidermy and artistic license. He shot the birds himself and posed them using wire to create lifelike compositions, but he often placed different species together and gave them idealized settings, and the backgrounds were sometimes made by other artists. The print was sold as part of a subscription service. Its audience was wealthy, and scientific as well as amateur. Audubon’s work thus speaks to the relationship between scientific exploration, artistic enterprise, and economic structures in 19th-century America. Researching the archives of natural history and the history of print collecting can help us understand this relationship further.