Audubon, California Vulture, Plate 426

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
California Vulture, Plate 426.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 1/8" x 25 5/8" sheet.

Comparable: Christie's, 2004 - $13,145; Guernsey's, 2013 - $12,200.

"I once saw two near Fort Vancouver feeding on the carcass of a pig that had died. I have not seen them at roost. In walking they resemble a Turkey, strutting over the ground with great dignity; but this dignity is occasionally lost sight of, especially when two are striving to reach a dead fish, which has just been cast on the shore; the stately walk then degenerates into a clumsy sort of hopping canter, which is any thing but graceful. When about to rise, they always hop or run for several yards, in order to give an impetus to their heavy body, in this resembling the Condor of South America, whose well known habit furnishes the natives with an easy mode of capturing him by means of a narrow pen, in which a dead carcass has been deposited. If I should return to the Columbia, I will try this method of taking the Vulture, and I am satisfied that it would be successful" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).