AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Black and White Creeper, Plate 90.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.38 5/8" x 25 1/2" sheet.

Provenance: John Vickers Painter Collection.

Comparable: Arader Galleries, 2018 - $10,370; Christie's, 6/25/2004 - $5,378.

"A more appropriate name has seldom been given to a bird than that by which the present species is designated. Notwithstanding the approximation of the bill in form to that of the Sylvi', I am decidedly inclined to place this species among the Creepers or Certhi'. To convince you of the propriety of such an arrangement, I shall now lay before you an account of its habits. The Black-and-white Creeper appears in the State of Louisiana as soon as the buds on the trees begin to expand, which happens about the middle of February. It throws itself into the forests, where it breeds, and remains until the beginning of November. It is usually seen on the largest trees of our woods. It has a few notes, consisting of a series of rapidly enunciated tweets, the last greatly prolonged. It climbs and creeps along the trunks, the branches, and even the twigs of the trees, without intermission, and so seldom perches, that I do not remember ever having seen it in such a position" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).