# A Pelican and other Birds near a Pool, Known as ‘The Floating Feather’

- By: Melchior d'Hondecoeter (Utrecht, 1636–1695)
- Date: c. 1680
- Medium: canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 159 cm x width 144 cm
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-175--01bb30d2f6e625c798fcc40e8dd554de)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/BaFQb/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

It must have been a great honour for Hondecoeter to receive commissions from the country’s ruler. He made this regal bird scene for Het Loo, the palace of William and Mary. It features a pelican in the foreground, a cassowary behind it at the left, a flamingo and a black crowned crane. Water birds congregate in and around a basin, and a feather floats on the water’s surface.