Audubon Aquatint, Cock of the Plains

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Cock of the Plains, Plate 371.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
25 1/4” x 38” sheet, 37 1/2” x 49 1/2” framed.
Comparable: Christie's, 2004 - $22,705; Arader Galleries, 2018 - $10,313.
He displays, in the presence of his intended mate, a variety of attitudes. His love-song is a confused, grating, but not offensively disagreeable tone,--something that we can imitate, but have a difficulty in expressing--Hurr-hurr-hurr-r-r-r-hoo, ending in a deep, hollow tone, not unlike the sound produced by blowing into a large reed.