This busy
branch of birds delights for its vivaciousness and its patterns. To give the
individuals life, the artist presents them in action, feeding on a typical
meal, some spreading their wings in a variety of contortions. Just as a skillful
portraitist employs the trick of engaging viewers by having human subjects
make eye contact with the audience, Audubon has several birds' eyes turned
toward the spectator and one bird facing outward.
The now extinct
Carolina Parakeet was in Audubon's time the only common parrot species in the
United States.