Audubon Aquatint, Pinnated Grouse

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Pinnated Grouse, Plate 186.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
25 1/2 x 38 5/8 sheet.
Provenance: From the John Painter Vicker's Collection.
Comparable: Christie's, 2004 - $26,290; Arader Galleries, 2019 - $13,750.
"In such places in the Western country as I have described, the "Prairie Hen" is heard "booming" or "tooting" not only before break of day, but frequently at all hours from morning until sunset; but in districts where these birds have become wild in consequence of the continual interference of man, they are seldom heard after sunrise, sometimes their meetings are noiseless, their battles are much less protracted, or of less frequent occurrence, and their beats or scratching grounds are more concealed. Many of the young males have battles even in autumn, when the females generally join, not to fight, but to conciliate them, in the manner of the Wild Turkeys." - Audubon's Ornithological Biography.