AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Virginia Partridge, Plate 76.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
25 1/4" x 36" sheet, 37" x 50" framed.

Comparables: Sotheby's, 2007 - $73,000; Arader, 2019 - $62,500.

One of Audubon's Most Dramatic Images: The Red-Shouldered Hawk pictured in this genius composition is the curse of the cattle ranches of the American West.

"The common name given to this bird in the Eastern and Middle Districts of our Union is that of Quail, but in the Western and Southern States, the more appropriate appellation of Partridge is bestowed upon it. It is abundantly met with in all parts of the United States, but more especially towards the interior... The flight of these birds is generally performed at a short distance from the ground. It is rapid, and is continued by numerous quick flaps of the wings for a certain distance, after which the bird sails until about to alight, when again it flaps its wings to break its descent. When chased by dogs, or started by any other enemy, they fly to the middle branches of trees of ordinary size, where they remain until danger is over. They walk with ease on the branches. If they perceive that they are observed, they raise the feathers of their head, emit a low note, and fly off either to some higher branch of the same tree, or to another tree at a distance. When these birds rise on wing of their own accord, the whole flock takes the same course; but when put up (in the sportsman's phrase), they disperse, after alighting call to each other, and soon after unite, each running or flying towards the well-known cry of the patriarch of the covey. " - Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831.