Audubon Aquatint, Blue-Grey Flycatcher

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Blue-Grey Flycatcher, Plate 84.
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: Christie's, 1/18/2001 - $1,293; Guernsey's, 5/11/2013 - $1,098.

"This diminutive lively bird is rendered peculiarly conspicuous by its being frequently the nurse or foster-parent of the young Cow Bunting, the real mother of which drops her egg in its nest. A few individuals of this species remain in Louisiana during spring and summer, and breed there; but the greater number proceed far eastward, and spread over the United States, although they are not common in any part. The Blue-grey Fly-catcher arrives in the neighbourhood of New Orleans about the middle of March, when it is observed along the water-courses, flitting about and searching diligently, amidst the branches of the Golden Willow, for the smaller kinds of winged insects, devouring amongst others great numbers of moschettoes" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).