"1936. Farthings were struck in most years of Queen Victoria's long reign. The coin continued to be issued in most years of the first half of the 20th century, and in 1937 it finally received its own reverse design, a wren. By the time the coin bore the portrait of Elizabeth II in 1953–1956, inflation had eroded its value. A fall in commercial demand also contributed to its demise. The British farthing is a continuation of the farthing series begun in silver under the English king Henry III in the 13th century and first struck in copper in the early"
"bird sits at his shoulder. Rundata dates it to 940, while Pluskowski dates it to the 11th century. This depiction has been interpreted as Odin, with a raven or eagle at his shoulder, being consumed by Fenrir at Ragnarök. On the reverse of the stone is another image parallel to it that has been described as Christ triumphing over Satan. These combined elements have led to the cross as being described as ""syncretic art""; a mixture of pagan and Christian beliefs. The mid-11th century Gosforth Cross, located in Cumbria, England, has been described as depicting a combination of scenes from"
"this time, though the earliest surviving impression (kept in the British Museum) is from 1352. The seal depicted a generic bird with a plant sprig in its beak, together with a scroll inscribed (in shaky letters) ""JOHIS"" - an abbreviation for ""Johannis"", Latin for ""of John"". The bird was almost certainly intended to be an eagle, the symbol of John the Evangelist, who was both the namesake and the patron saint of King John. The plant sprig is interpreted as broom (""planta genista"" in Latin), a badge of the Plantagenet dynasty. Also visible on the seal is a star and"
"used for grouse or partridges in Europe, as well as the sketches of the travellers Pieter van den Broecke and Sir Thomas Herbert from 1617 and 1634. These were thought to depict separate species of birds by some authors, but were regarded as one by the English naturalist Hugh Edwin Strickland in 1848. The German ornithologist Hermann Schlegel thought Broecke's sketch depicted a smaller dodo species from Mauritius, and that the Herbert sketch showed a dodo from Rodrigues, and named them ""Didus broecki"" and ""Didus herberti"" in 1854. The Flemish artist Jacob Hoefnagel's 1610 painting, the 1601 sketch from the"
"he saw himself and states that these birds, while less numerous than the black morph, were quite common. Díðrikur á Skarvanesi, the first Faroe painter, painted the ""Fuglar"" series, a number of portrayal of birds. On his ""18 fuglar"" (""18 birds""), the animal in the lower right corner can be identified as a pied raven. The painting is currently on display in the Listaskálin museum of Faroe art in Tórshavn. As exemplified by Skarvanesi's painting, which obviously was done from stuffed birds, the pied raven was an object of interest to collectors. During the nineteenth century, the pied birds were"
"a cockatoo, previously thought to be the earliest, is present in the 1496 painting by Andrea Mantegna titled Madonna della Vittoria. Later examples were painted by Hungarian artist Jakob Bogdani (1660–1724), who resided in Amsterdam from 1683 and then England, and appeared with numerous other birds in the bird pieces of the Dutch painter Melchior d'Hondecoeter (1636–1695). A cockatoo is the unlucky subject in ""An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump"" by English artist Joseph Wright of Derby, its fate unclear in the painting. Cockatoos were among the many Australian plants and animals which featured in decorative motifs"
"depictions, such as the 6th-century BC Athenian black-figure amphora in the British Museum, clearly show the black head and white body of the sacred ibis. After the bald ibis became extinct in Central Europe, some later writers thought that Gesner's description was one of several in his book depicting mythical creatures. The bird painted in 1490 in one of the Gothic frescoes in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje (now south-western Slovenia) in the Karst by John of Kastav was most probably the northern bald ibis. A small illustration of the northern bald ibis is found in the illuminated ""St"
"of a sacrificed dove. In Medieval Christian iconography, the cormorant's ""wing-drying"" pose represents the Christian cross, and hence is a figure of Christ. In John Milton's ""Paradise Lost"", on the other hand, the bird's cross-like pose is a travesty of Christ: ""Then up he flew, and... Sat like a cormorant; yet not true life Thereby regained, but sat devising death To them who lived"". In mythology, birds were sometimes monsters, like the Roc and the Māori's ""Pouākai"", a giant bird capable of snatching humans. In Persian mythology, the simurgh was a gigantic bird, the first to come into existence, and"
"being a juvenile. Another English traveller, John Marshall, described the bird as follows in 1668: Much information about the bird's appearance comes from a painting attributed to Jacob Hoefnagel, based on a bird in the menagerie of Emperor Rudolph II around 1610. It is the only coloured depiction of the species, showing the plumage as reddish brown, but it is unknown whether it was based on a stuffed or living specimen. The bird had most likely been brought alive to Europe, as it is unlikely that taxidermists were on board the visiting ships, and spirits were not yet used to"
"faith emperor of India). The pattern coin of Edward VIII and regular-issue farthings of George VI and Elizabeth II feature a redesigned reverse displaying the wren, one of Britain's smallest birds. George VI issue coins feature the inscription (George VI by the grace of God king of all Britain defender of the faith emperor of India) before 1949, and (George VI by the grace of God king of all Britain defender of the faith) thereafter. Unlike the penny, farthings were minted throughout the early reign of Elizabeth II, bearing the inscription (Elizabeth II by the grace of God queen of"
"the back of the bird. It was found buried in a layer of charred wood, leading the discoverer to believe that it might have been the sacred eagle of a Roman legion and been stashed in the rafters of the aerarium (treasury). However, more recent archaeologists have suggested that the piece may have been intended as nothing more than scrap metal by the Romans at the time that it was lost, and was awaiting being recycled when the aerarium burnt down. Silchester eagle The Silchester eagle is a Roman bronze casting dating from the first or second century CE, uncovered"
"depicts a Somali pigeon (""Columba oliviae""). The obverse of the coin is inscribed ''. The PM (Pobjoy Mint) mint mark is located near the bird's tail feathers. The reverse of the coin is inscribed '' and '..'. The symbol '1/-' is in the centre. There were two coins of this denomination, both issued in 2002. The first coin has a portrait of Sir Richard Francis Burton, and the second coin depicts a rooster. The specifications of the first coin are as follows: The obverse of the coin is inscribed """". The dates ""1841 1904"" are to the left of the"
"of ""an intricate meander pattern of joined up swastikas"" found on a late paleolithic figurine of a bird, carved from mammoth ivory, found in Mezine, Ukraine and dated to 15,000 years old. These engraved objects were found near phallic objects, which states Jain may support the idea that the meandering pattern of swastika was a fertility symbol. However it has also been suggested that this swastika may be a stylized picture of a stork in flight and not the true swastika that is in use today. In England, neolithic or Bronze Age stone carvings of the symbol have been found"
"of Proto-Germanic ""*ai"". The ""h"" rune has the Nordic single-bar shape , not the Continental double-bar which was later adopted in the Anglo-Frisian runes. Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus The Caistor-by-Norwich astralagus is a roe deer astragalus found in an urn at Caistor St. Edmund, Norfolk, England. The astragalus is inscribed with a 5th-century Elder Futhark inscription, reading ""roe"". The inscription is the earliest found in England, and predates the evolution of the specifically Anglo-Frisian Futhorc. As the urn was found in a cemetery that indicated some Scandinavian influence, it has been suggested that the astragalus may be an import, perhaps brought from"
"Bird in Hand (painting) Bird in Hand is a painting by Ellen Gallagher. It is in the collection of the Tate Modern in London, England in the United Kingdom. The mixed media painting depicts a Black pirate-like figure with a wooden leg and long hair. The figure has an alien-like face and wears a long coat, belt, a puffy, frilly white shirt, and a pair of blue pants. Holding a green parrot in its hand, the figure appears to be standing underwater, on seaweed, surrounded by a coral reef. Gallagher produced the piece at her studio in Rotterdam in the"
"buried at St Mary, Whitechapel.Soon afterwards some of his works were sold at three or four times the price he had received for them in his lifetime. Marmaduke Cradock Marmaduke Cradock (1660 – 24 March 1716) was an English painter of birds and animals. Some older sources give his first name as Luke. Cradock was an English painter, noted for his depictions of birds, dead game, and other animals. He was born in Somerton, Somerset and moved to London, where he served an apprenticeship to a house-painter. He was, however, self-taught as an artist, becoming skilled in the depiction of"
"Grey partridge The grey partridge (""Perdix perdix""), also known as the English partridge, Hungarian partridge, or hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. The scientific name is the Latin for ""partridge"", and is itself derived from Ancient Greek ""perdix"". The grey partridge is a rotund bird, long, brown-backed, with grey flanks and chest. The belly is white, usually marked with a large chestnut-brown horse-shoe mark in males, and also in many females. Hens lay up to twenty eggs in a ground nest. The nest is usually in the margin of a cereal"
"and herald Triton. The motto is ""Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit""—a quotation from Virgil's ""Eclogues"" translating to ""God hath granted us this ease"" or ""God has bestowed these blessings upon us"". Representations of the bird can be found throughout Liverpool. The two most famous stand atop the clock towers of the Royal Liver Building at Liverpool's Pier Head, overlooking the Mersey. Their names are Bertie and Bella. The male, Bertie looks over the city and the female, Bella looks to the sea. The building, headquarters to the Royal Liver Assurance, was opened in 1911. The metal cormorant-like birds were designed"
"to that of a peacock during courtship display, and so he arranged the feathers in this way. Later, John Gould (who had also never seen a live lyrebird), painted the lyrebird from the British Museum specimen. The male lyrebird's tail is not held as in John Gould's painting. Instead, the male lyrebird's tail is fanned over the lyrebird during courtship display, with the tail completely covering his head and back—as can be seen in the image in the 'breeding' section of this page, and also the image of the 10-cent coin, where the superb lyrebird's tail (in courtship display) is"
"humans just like the grouse, partridges, junglefowls and perhaps peacocks that inhabited Europe at that time. At least since the Roman Empire, the bird was extensively introduced in many places and has become a naturalized member at least of the European fauna. Introductions in the Southern Hemisphere have mostly failed, except where local Galliformes or their ecological equivalents are rare or absent. The bird was naturalized in Great Britain around A.D. 1059, arguably earlier, by the Romano-British. It was the Caucasian subspecies mistakenly known as the 'Old English Pheasant' rather than the Chinese ring-necked pheasants (""torquatus"") that were introduced to"
"lynx (""Lynx""), griffin (""Gryps"") and part of elephant (""Elephans""). After folio 15 verso some leaves are missing which should have contained crocodile (""Crocodilus""), manticore (""Mantichora"") and part of parandrus (""Parandrus""). After folio 21 verso two leaves are missing which should have contained ox (""Bos""), camel (""Camelus""), dromedary (""Dromedarius""), ass (""Asinus""), onager (""Onager"") and part of horse (""Equus""). Aberdeen Bestiary The Aberdeen Bestiary (Aberdeen University Library, Univ Lib. MS 24) is a 12th-century English illuminated manuscript bestiary that was first listed in 1542 in the inventory of the Old Royal Library at the Palace of Westminster. Information about its origins and"
"the birds. Nearby on the ceiling is the faint image in black of an animal with four stumpy legs and two long, widespread horns. The long horns look more like bison occidentalis, which went extinct about 5000 years ago, than modern bison bison, with its short horns. If the former, the artist for this drawing would be a Paleo-Indian or Archaic person. A well-preserved part of a moccasin was found on the floor of the second chamber - a section of a sole reaching from the toe to the back of the arch, where it must have been stitched to"
"problematic, since it also mentions that the bird he was describing had three toes and no tongue, unlike dodos. This led some to believe that Cauche was describing a new species of dodo (""""Didus nazarenus""""). The description was most probably mingled with that of a cassowary, and Cauche's writings have other inconsistencies. A mention of a ""young ostrich"" taken on board a ship in 1617 is the only other reference to a possible juvenile dodo. An egg claimed to be that of a dodo is stored in the museum of East London, South Africa. It was donated by Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer,"
"for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. In the English Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, the line commonly sung today as ""four calling birds"" is believed to have originally been written in the 18th century as ""four colly birds"", an archaism meaning ""black as coal"" that was a popular English nickname for the common blackbird. The common blackbird, unlike many black creatures, is not normally seen as a symbol of bad luck, but R. S. Thomas wrote that there is ""a suggestion of"
"Gouldian finch The Gouldian finch (""Erythrura gouldiae""), also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Gould's finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird which is native to Australia. The Gouldian finch was described by British ornithological artist John Gould in 1844 as ""Amadina gouldiae"", in honour of his deceased wife Elizabeth. It is also known as the rainbow finch, Gould's finch, or the Lady Gouldian finch and sometimes just Gould. It is a member of the estrildid-finch family Estrildidae, which is sometimes considered a subfamily of Passeridae. It had been placed in the genus ""Chloebia"", as ""Chloebia gouldiae""."
"was not of so minuscule a value as (middle-class) writers of the day (1844) might imagine. The entire denomination was demonetised from 1 January 1870. Half farthing The British half farthing (d) coin, usually simply known as a half farthing, was a unit of currency equaling of a pound sterling, or one eighth of a penny. It was minted in copper for use in Ceylon, but in 1842 they were declared legal tender in the United Kingdom. Two different obverses were used. Like all British coinage, it bore the portrait of the monarch on the obverse. Before Decimal Day in"
"shows the royal Persian standard., depicted as a rectangular plaque, possibly originally in purple, with a dark red border with yellow dots. In the field, a golden bird is only partially preserved. The ""Persian bird"" has variously been interpreted as a cock, an eagle or a falcon; the ""royal falcon"" of Persia (""varəγna"") represented ""farr"" or ""glory"", while the eagle was associated with the Achaemenid dynasty itself. A square tile representing a miniature (12 cm) banner was discovered at Persepolis in 1948. The tile is made of Egyptian blue frit and likely represents Egyptian Horus, but in the Persian context"
"with native Indian birds. It depicts a slimmer, brownish bird, and its discoverer A. Iwanow and dodo specialist Julian Hume regard it as one of the most accurate depictions of the living dodo; the surrounding birds are clearly identifiable and depicted with appropriate colouring. It is believed to be from the 17th century and has been attributed to artist Ustad Mansur. The bird depicted probably lived in the menagerie of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, located in Surat, where English traveller Peter Mundy also claimed to have seen two dodos sometime between 1628 and 1633. In 2014, another Indian illustration of a"
"in evidence. Jerdon noted however that: The name of the bird commemorates Joan Gideon Loten, the Dutch governor to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) who commissioned the artist Pieter Cornelis de Bevere to illustrate the natural history of the region from living and collected specimens. The plates by de Bevere included illustrations of many bird species and when Loten went back to England, he loaned these to various naturalists including George Edwards (1694–1773) who used them his ""Gleanings of Natural History"". Carl Linnaeus described this species under the genus ""Certhia"" based on material obtained from Loten. Gmelin confused this with African species"
"are two archaeological specimens of the black-crowned night heron in Great Britain. The oldest is from the Roman London Wall and the more recent from the Royal Navy's late medieval victualling yards in Greenwich It appears in the London poulterers price lists as the Brewe, a bird which was thought to have been the Whimbrel or Glossy Ibis, which has now been shown to refer to the black-crowned night heron, derived from the medieval French ""Bihoreau"". Black-crowned night heron may have bred in the far wetter and wider landscape of pre-modern Britain. They were certainly imported for the table so"
"these birds from Australia. Gouldian finch The Gouldian finch (""Erythrura gouldiae""), also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Gould's finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird which is native to Australia. The Gouldian finch was described by British ornithological artist John Gould in 1844 as ""Amadina gouldiae"", in honour of his deceased wife Elizabeth. It is also known as the rainbow finch, Gould's finch, or the Lady Gouldian finch and sometimes just Gould. It is a member of the estrildid-finch family Estrildidae, which is sometimes considered a subfamily of Passeridae. It had been placed in the genus"
""""" at the bottom. In the 17th century, goldfinches were popular pets because they could be trained to draw water from a bowl with a miniature bucket. The Dutch title of the painting pertains to the bird's nickname ""puttertje"", which refers to this custom and translates literally as 'little weller'. The work was painted without major corrections, with only minor ones to the contours of the bird. Most of the painting is set up with large brush strokes, but details such as the chain are painted with more precision. Fabritius showed off his skill by painting the bird's head foreshortened."
"a fireball. It is sometimes depicted as having three legs. It is believed that the bird only appears in areas or places that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity or happiness. Chinese tradition cites it as living atop the Kunlun Mountains in northern China. Images of an ancient bird have appeared in China for over 8000 years, as earliest as the Hongshan neolithic period, on jade and pottery motifs, then appearing decorating bronze as well as jade figurines. Some believe they may have been a good-luck totem among eastern tribes of ancient China. During the Han dynasty (2,200 years"