Kathy G. guesses Finch family

Sorry Russel, unfortunately Kathy G took a swing and she missed. This songbird is actually in the "Regulidae" family of birds.

Possibly a golden crowned kinglet?





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Golden-crowned kinglet

Congratulations Dean, the bird is a Golden-crowned Kinglet. I commissioned the carving back in 1992 when we built our home on Kinglet Circle. Too bad for Mike, although he entered a correct identification he was a little late on the draw. I'll give him another shot at identifying the gun in a follow-up post.

Here's a better pic of the bird:

Now for Mike and others playing along, the Special Bonus Question with a new and revised pic to help identify the maker. You will have to be a real bonafide aficionado of London-built hammerguns to get this right. This maker can be identified by his own unique style of "house engraving".

That kinglet on a red osier dogwood stem?

If the lever was on the left side I'd say it's a Hollis. I have a Hollis hammer gun with side lever like that.

Is that a Clabrough or Grant?

Although at first glance it does appear similar to red osier dogwoods, but I'm not so sure that it is. I don't believe that red osier dogwoods have thorns and don't they normally have the leaf buds growing off the stem directly across from one another?

Sorry Mike, the maker of the hammergun was not Hollis, Clabrough or Grant. Take another shot!