Blue Grosbeak ~ First Breeding Award Medal

My most recent purchase is a vintage Foreign Bird Club (later named The Foreign Bird League) breeding award medal that was acquired through auction. This medal was awarded in 1909 to W. E. Teschemaker for the first UK captive breeding of Guiraca cyanea (now known as Passerina caerulea), a medium-sized North American passerine bird in the cardinal family Cardinalidae. 

The medal caught my attention because the awardee was the same person who received my Avicultural Society breeding medal, although this time for a different species. As previously noted, an Avicultural Society medal for the same species was also awarded and sold on the market in 2005.

Auction description: Great Britain, Edward VII. Bronze Medal for First Breeding of Foreign Bird Species in GB. 1909. THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB, engraved in cartouches, Heraldic dragons holding Coat of Arms above, DOMINE DIRIGE NOS on banner / AWARDED TO W.E.TESCHEMAKER, FOR BREEDING, GUIRACA CYANEA FOR FIRST TIME IN GT. BRITAIN, date in cartouche below, ornate surround. 43.25g, 45.50mm

Below: Article by W. E. Teschemaker - Nesting of the Blue Grossbeak C.1909