Audubon, John James (1785-1851).
Great Cinereous Owl, Plate 351.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38” x 25 1/4” sheet, 46” x 34” framed.
Comparable: Guernseys, 2013 - $79,300.
“The comparatively small size of this bird’s eyes renders it probable that it punts by day, and the remarkable smallness of its feet and claws induces me to think that it does not prey on large animals... It keeps however within the woods, and does not frequent the barren grounds, like the Snowy Owl, nor is it so often met with in broad day-light as the Hawk Owl, but hunts principally when the sun is low; indeed, it is only at such times, when the recesses of the woods are deeply shadowed, that the American hare and the murine animals, on which the Cinereous Owl chiefly preys, come forth to feed. ”
- (Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, 1831).