Audubon Aquatint, Autumnal Warbler

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Autumnal Warbler, Plate 88.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 5/8" x 25 1/2" sheet.

Provenance: John Vickers Painter Collection.Comparable: Christies, 6/25/2004 - $3,585; Bonhams, 5/23/2007 - $2,040.

"No sooner have these birds reared their young than they assemble in large loose parties of fifty or more, and return towards the south, throwing themselves amongst the Willows and Birch-trees that margin the streams, as well as into orchards and the scattered trees in cultivated fields. Its common note is a simple tweet, but the male, in spring and during the period of incubation, repeats at short intervals a soft and pleasing variety of notes, scarcely, however, deserving the name of song" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).