Inspired, perhaps, by the ambitions of his self-taught father, Thomas Coke Ruckle became a professional painter. However, while his father was untrained, young Thomas studied at the Royal Academy from 1839 to 1841 before setting up a portrait studio in Baltimore Street. He also worked as an illustrator. This colorful little gathering of birds once belonged to Edgar and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, noted collectors of American folk art. Perched in profile on branches of flowering apple, the birds include, from top to bottom, a hummingbird, a cardinal, a Baltimore oriole, a robin, a woodpecker, and a bluebird.