Rescued from my leaky letterbox, one copy of Spoonful: A Happiness Companion, Issue 09, which features two birds perhaps preparing to sample the sugary confection before them. Perhaps they already have as the Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (Coriculus galgulus) has already turned a most unnatural shade of rose. The normally 'glittering plumage' of the Giant hummingbird (Patagonia gigas) looks a little peaky too.
Hummingbirds were close to John Gould’s heart and in 1857 he saw his first live hummingbirds when he journeyed to America 'With what delight did I examine its tiny body, and feast my eyes on its glittering plumage'. Gould returned from this short trip to America with two live hummingbirds but sadly, despite his best efforts to keep them alive on a special diet of nectar and insects, they did not survive the voyage.
(Source: ZSL Living Conservation's Artefact of the month, August 2007 post about Calliphlox amethystina, the amethyst hummingbird in Volume III of A monograph of the Trochilidae, or family of humming-birds, by John Gould. London : published by the author, 1849-61 in five volumes plus supplement.)
Thank-you, Anthea, for inviting me to be a part of Spoonful. I enjoyed coming up with a fantastical cake for your Sweetness issue.
Sarah Andreacchio, Sharon Hinchcliffe, Jenika Rivera, Rebecca Gould, Heliana Rotariu, Sandra Monat, Stephanie Ginger, Annick Gaudrealult, Marika Paz, and Marie Gardeski also created cakes for the spread, Objects of Affection, in which artists were asked to create a multi-tiered cake.
You can purchase a copy of Spoonful, issue 9, here.
