Prideaux John Selby.

Egyptian Neophron.

23 x 19 inches

This magnificent image shows the Egyptian Vulture in all its savage glory. With beak agape and beady eye, the potential ferocity of this bird of prey is very evident from Selby's rendition. Maintaining the life size nature of his birds this vulture would have proved a challenge for Selby to confine to a single page. Native to Africa and Eurasia, this bird would have been a frightening prospect turning up on British shores!

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''.