A Decoy

Francis Barlow (Lincolnshire c.1626 - London 1704). Oil painting on canvas, A Decoy, by Francis Barlow (Lincolnshire c.1626 - London 1704), circa 1667 - late 1670s. Birds in a landscape, on the ground, and in flight. In the middle ground is a narrow canal with a lock, and a small wooden hut by a tree, into which a figure is entering. The estate is separated from the landscape beyond by a wooden fence crossing the composition. In the foreground are two bitterns, one standing at the far left, and one in the centre, looking upwards and right to the sky, where a red kite is attacking a male mallard in flight, while other mallards protest. Two further mallards, a male and a female, are on a path in the foreground with two moorhens. To the right, by a tree trunk, is a group of lapwings, one of which is in flight. A teal is in flight above the tree, and two others, shown from below, are in the centre-left of the composition, and to the left of the mallard being pursued by the red kite. At the left is a heron in flight, and a woodcock flying down towards the canal. At the top of the composition are more mallards in flight and two swallows. Clandon Park, Surrey (Accredited Museum)