Audubon Aquatint, Cat Bird

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Cat Bird, Plate 128.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 3/8" x 25 1/2" sheet.

Provenance: John Vickers Painter's Collection.

Comparable: Christie's, 2001 - $3,760; Guernsey's, 2013 - $2,318.

"Actively and most diligently employed is this little rover ever found in our pine woodlands of the Southern Districts, where it resides all the year, and beyond which it seldom extends, few being ever seen to the eastward of Maryland. Those large tracts of sandy soil that occupy the greater portion of the Floridas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, appear to suit its habits best" (John Jame Audubon, Birds of America).