Audubon Aquatint, Red-eyed Vireo

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Red-eyed Vireo, Plate 150.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
39 1/4" x 26 1/2" sheet.

Comparables: Christie's, 2004 - $2,390; Arader Galleries, 2020 - $1,800.

Provenance: John Vickers Painter's Deckled Collection, with full uncut margins.

"One of the principal differences between the habits of this and some other species, which are now called Vireos, and the Flycatchers, is, that the former procure their food principally by moving about, and along the branches or the twigs of the trees, by light hops, alternately changing sides, reaching and securing their prey by an elastic extension of the legs and neck, without the continual snapping or clicking of the bill so common among the Muscicapae on such occasions, and that they seldom make sorties on the wing to any distance, for the purpose of seizing the insects on which they usually feed. This habit is retained until autumn, when, insects being scarce, the Vireo sallies forth to a short distance in pursuit of them, as they may chance to pass near the tree on which, in the silent mood of a Flycatcher, it stands erect, using the watchful side-glances peculiar to its tribe, as it anxiously expects the passage of its prey." - (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).