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Bull Frog (Rana Catesbeiana)
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Island
Call number: Rare QH41 C292 1754 o.s.

Although Catesby's bird drawings are generally considered his best, this painting of a bullfrog almost leaps off the page. "The noise they make has caused their name," Catesby wrote, "for at a few yards distance their bellowing sounds very much like that of a bull a quarter of a mile off…when surprised with a long leap or two enter the mouth of the spring where they are secure. It is the general belief of the people in Virginia that they keep the springs clean and purify the water, wherefore they never kill or molest them." View enlarged image

The Red Bird (Northern Cardinal)
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Island
Call number: Rare QH41 C292 1754 o.s.

Catesby's description of the cardinal includes the "towering crest, the mask across the face, and the strong beak." He observed that "they are seldom seen above three or four together. It is a hardy and familiar bird. They are frequently brought from Virginia and other parts of North America for their beauty and agreeable singing, they having some notes not unlike our nightingale."

This jaunty-looking bird is the official state bird of seven states (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia). View enlarged image

Mock-Bird and Dogwood
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Island
Call number: QH41 C292 1754 o.s.

Catesby described the mockingbird as "The Queen of all singing birds," and wrote that "They often sit upon our chimneys in summer and sing the whole evening and most part of the night." He observed "mockingbirds and other kinds of thrushes" feeding on the red berries of the dogwood, pictured here in the pink form. "In Virginia I found one of these dogwood trees with flowers of a rose color, which was luckily blown down, and many of its branches had taken root, which I transplanted into a garden." View enlarged image

Cassena vera Floridanorum (The Yapon)
Hortus Europae Americanus
Call number: Rare QK481 C36 o.s.

During his time in the field, Catesby often depended on the hospitality of local Indians for food and protection. He described their customs, such as this passage about the yapon tree: "The esteem the American Indians have for this shrub, from the great use they make of it, renders it most worthy notice: they say its virtues have been known amongst them from the earliest times; they prepare the leaves for keeping by drying, or rather parching them in a pottage-pot over a slow fire…they drink large quantities, both for health and pleasure; they say it restores lost appetite, strengthens the stomach, and confirms their health, giving them agility, and courage in war. In Virginia it is known by the name of Yapon."

Catesby transplanted dozens of American specimens to England, and the results were published after his death in Hortus Europae Americanus. View enlarged image