A pied wagtail and a grey wagtail by classical ruins on a forest floor; and Three wallcreepers by classical ruins on a forest floor

The depiction of wallcreepers is notable for the fact that they are an extremely elusive species, sighted only six times. Seeking out crevices in the cliff-face, into which it ensconces itself, it folds in its red wings so as to blend in with the greys of the rock. Their presence in a German painting would suggest that a few of these rarest of birds were kept in a distinguished eighteenth-century menagerie, possibly at Schloss Baden, Baden-Württemberg, where these pictures once hung.