Prideaux John Selby.

Great Black Backed Gull

24 x 19 inches

Anyone who's tried to enjoy their fish and chips on the seafront at Scarborough will know how persistent and audacious these birds can be as they swoop mercilessly upon any carelessly discarded chunk of cod. The scale of Selby's illustration shows us the full scale of this, the largest breed of seagull to inhabit our shores. They are known to be persistent scavengers and easily identified by their black plumage, yellow beaks and pink legs.

P. J. Selby (1788-1867) was an exceptional ornithologist from Northumberland whose major work, Illustrations of British Ornithology, from which these prints are taken, was published in London between 1819 and 1834. The work is striking, not least for its size (comparable to the work of Audubon, for whom Lizars also worked); it has been described as containing ''some of the best figures of British birds that have ever been published'' and indeed ''the finest copper engravings to be found in any ornithological work''.