True, there is an abundance of flourished birds as examples in this book, but each one is beautifully done... The designs are all different examples of how TO flourish something, whether it be a bird or not. The bird is taken into account so much due to it's excellent curvature for practicing with the pen and because the quill pen itself was so important, historically, as the book describes. A lot of the prints are so beautifully ornate that you have to take a good look to even see if there is a bird. But it does offer simple exercise instruction and tips, examples with lettering and such. I do not regret adding this book to my library.