Audubon Aquatint, Long-billed Curlew

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Long-billed Curlew, Plate 231.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 1/2" x 25" sheet.

Comparables: Guernsey's, 2013 - $109,800; Arader Galleries, 2019 - $106,250.

A favorite of Ronald Reagan's for the depiction of the city of Charleston; This image hung in the White House. For anyone living in the Carolinas, This is a key for any collection.

"This bird is the largest of the genus found in North America. The great length of its bill is of itself sufficient to distinguish it from every other. The bill, however, in all the species, differs greatly, according to the age of the individual, and in the present Curlew I have seen it in some birds nearly three inches shorter than in others, although all were full grown. In many of its habits, the Long-billed Curlew is closely allied to the smaller species of Ibis; its flight and manner of feeding are similar, and it has the same number of eggs. Unlike the Ibis, however, which always breeds on trees, and forms a large nest, the Curlew breeds on the ground, forming a scanty receptacle for its eggs; yet, according to my friend BACHMAN, the latter, like the former, places its nests "so close together, that it is almost impossible for a man to walk between them, without injuring the eggs. " - Audubon's Ornithological Biography.