ALBANY, NY.- Birds of New York and the Paintings of Louis Agassiz Fuertes opened at the New York State Museum January 30, showcasing the original watercolors painted a century ago by one of Americas foremost science artists. The exhibition, in the Museums Crossroads Gallery, will be open through September 6. It will feature 40 of more than 100 paintings that Fuertes created to illustrate Birds of New York, a monumental book that combined beautiful art and scientific scholarship. The first edition of the book will be on display, along with a print portfolio and specimens from the Museums ornithology collection. The first volume of Birds of New York Water Birds and Game Birds was published to much acclaim in 1910. Volume Two Land Birds followed four years later. Birds of New York was collaboration between Fuertes and author Elon Howard Eaton and served as a model for ornithology