On Good Friday, In 1939 six pairs of outdoor-bred Border Canaries were introduced onto the remote Welsh island of Skokholm.    Gilbert White of Selborne writing in 1767 mooted the idea of canary birds being able to fend for themselves, or as he put it “shift for themselves” in the wild in England. 

Ronald L. Lockley the well-known ornithologist, and prolific author, was at the time the Warden of Skokholm and in a quasi-scientific manner put Gilbert’s White thesis to the test, though it does seem somewhat illogical that this particularly exposed island was chosen as the site for an experiment using a semi-exotic species.

At first the Canaries were acclimatised in a large aviary, and soon started to nest and quickly multiplied.   The fledged youngsters formed “charms” of from five to thirty and ranged all over the island.   Unfortunately Sparrow-Hawks on their autumn migration appeared in September and quickly dispatched most of this brilliant company.  The birds, unaccustomed to wild living made very easy targets for the hawks.  In the end a sorry remnant of one adult and six juveniles were saved from destruction and caged for the winter, however one particularly tenacious Sparrow-Hawk entered the aviary and quickly killed Kitty one of the original birds of a bright cinnamon colour.  The remaining birds were then taken to the mainland and sold or given away.

Lockley wrote an account of the canary experiment on Skokholm in The Cinnamon Bird, (Staples Press Limited, London 1948), in which he writes in the third person referring to himself as the “islandman” and the “young girl” being his daughter.  In the Cinnamon Bird we read that the canaries were presented by “Mr Naylor”, however this was a pseudonym as Lockley states in the Skokholm Bird Observatory report for 1939 that they were presented by Mr Leslie Turner.  However what is of more significance is that Naylor/Turner, a member of the R.S.P.C.A. bred the birds for detecting foul air in London’s underground – “in sewers, tube railways and tunnels” but would only allow the birds to spend three months underground, thereafter they were taken back to the aviary, or given away.

The central character in The Cinnamon Bird is the female bird Kitty, who paired up with True-Blue, and we read of other “marriages” - Sea-Blue to Heliotrope, Green Brother to Fawn Yellow and so on.  The book seemingly aimed at the juvenile market, recounts their relationships and adventures, in a  jaunty style, almost anthropomorphic at times – though the blurb for the book describes it somewhat differently “From this diary emerges not only a fascinating scientific record, but a story in clear, vivid prose that conjures up for us the spirit of the bird-haunted island”.

However, scientific or otherwise,  perhaps the greatest virtue of the Cinnamon Bird is not the story or the experiment, but the outstanding colour plates by Charles Frederic Tunnicliffe.  Tunnicliffe visited the island where he made sketches used as the basis for these illustrations.  There are four plates and a separate jacket design featuring Kitty sitting amongst thrift on a rocky cliff with the sea in the background.

Loe Books is delighted to have acquired two of the original watercolour paintings used for the plates.   The first features Sea-Blue, Heliotrope and Kitty together, nesting amongst lichen-covered rocks, this is plate 2 that appears opposite page 33 in the book.   The second, opposite page 48, a dramatic illustration of a Sparrow-hawk taking a canary flying over a rocky cliff studded with sea-thrift,  the shimmering sea far below, set against the background of the landing steps at North Haven Point, the cliffs of the mainland in the far distance.

The paintings are 225mm high x 174mm wide, so approximately one and half times the size of the reproduced plates.  They have never been framed and presumably kept in a drawer for the last 75 years, so are as bright as the day they were painted.  They both have utilitarian, contemporary mounts fixed to the edges, with pencil notes (possibly by the print-master) to the bottom margin “MS [manuscript] page 34, Sea Blue, Heliotrope & Kitty” to the first and “MS Page 65. Sparrowhawk & self fawn Canary” to the second.  Interestingly these illustrations were not signed or monogrammed by Tunnicliffe, which is peculiar, considering he is both acknowledged and celebrated in the book’s blurb.

Tunnicliffe, 1901-1979, probably the greatest natural history illustrator of the twentieth century, has strongly influenced later wildlife artists, most notably Robert Gillmor.  We believe that this pair of unframed illustrations, painted around 1937 are outstanding examples of Tunnicliffe’s work.  The second painting, depicting the Sparrow-hawk’s attack on the canary, is particularly impressive, masterful for its ease of composition and fluency of execution, the artist at the height of his powers.

£5,000 the pair.

(including a Signed copy of The Cinnamon Bird, dust jacket chipped and worn but professionally restored)