Katsushima Hokusai

Wings of a Feather

Albrecht Dürer 1512

Oh no !

The photographs you are about to see show how a very determined male bird tries to save his female mate that has been seriously injured.

Here the female bird is injured and her condition is not good.
The male bird brings her food and attends to her.
Although he tries to help her, she is too badly injured and dies.
He is shocked over her death and tries desperately to bring her back to life, trying to pull her up and make her move.
He finally realizes that she has passed away.
He stands by her side, calling and crying for help.
Finally realizing that she will never return to him, he stands beside her lifeless body, unable to leave her side.
The photos of these two birds are said to have been taken in the Republic of the Ukraine.
The photographer sold these pictures for a small price to one of the most famous newspapers in France. All the copies of that newspaper were sold out on the day they published these photos.

Livre de Fleurs

About the book:

"These 17th-century plates depict garden flowers such as irises and tulips along with songbirds and insects. Elaborately curled banners display pre-Linnaean Latin names. According to Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi in An Oak Spring Flora (Upperville, Oak Spring Garden Library, 1997), L’Anglois worked not only as an artist and engraver but also as a bookseller and art dealer who eventually opened a shop in Paris where he produced engraved prints.

The title page for Livre de Fleurs was designed by L’Anglois and engraved by German engraver Léonard Gaultier (1561–1641), who also worked in Paris. The plates were all drawn and engraved by L’Anglois himself, emphasizing the decorative aspects of the flora and fauna depicted.
{text from here}

The book is available as a PDF file.

via http://tinatarnoff.typepad.com/thought_patterns/