A Redtail’s Feathursday
On this late-spring #Feathursday, we present some illustrations from the children’s novel Rufous Redtail by Helen Garrett (1895-1980) with illustrations by Francis Lee Jaques (1887-1969), published in New York by Viking Press in 1947. It is a coming-of-age story about a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) “from his first experience of a rainstorm to his mating with a beautiful young redtail,” appropriately named Beauty, “who likes Rufous as he is.”
Garrett is the author of at least 12 books for young people, yet we could find no biographical information about her. The story is a bit saccharine for our tastes (sorry Helen), but we love Jaques’s black and white illustrations. Largely self-taught, wildlife artist Francis Lee Jaques became a staff artist for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for 25 years before returning to his native Minnesota to work at the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota. An active conservationist, he and his wife, author Florence Page, were involved in the conservation of Susie Island in Lake Superior, and the conservation area, now owned by the Nature Conservancy, was named The Francis Lee Jaques Memorial Preserve in his honor.
Red-tailed Hawks are year-round residents and a common sight here in southeastern Wisconsin, and it is not at all unusual to see their red tails sailing through the canopy of Downer Woods here on campus.
View our other posts featuring the work of Francis Lee Jaques.
View more Feathursday posts.
