Introduced prior to 1891, probably discontinued within a year or two of its release. This is an extremely rare deck. Single cards are hard to come by (especially in red), and complete decks are seldom seen. If you do find a Bird deck, odds are it will be in pretty rough condition, as most of the survivors have been very well used.

The bird on this card looks most like traditional renderings of a phoenix, the mythical bird from ancient Greek folklore. According to Wikipedia, the Phoenix is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. Most accounts say that it lived for 500 years before rebirth.