Peregrine Falcons (Duck Hawks)

This plate was prepared for Audubon's monumental publication The Birds of America, issued in London in double-elephant folio format between 1827 and 1838, and it stands as one of the most dramatic compositions in that celebrated series. Audubon painted the falcons at life-scale, as was his practice throughout the project, using wired specimens posed against watercolour backgrounds to achieve a naturalism that distinguished his work sharply from the static cabinet-specimen illustrations that preceded it. The peregrine had particular significance in the ornithological literature of the period, and Audubon's choice to show two birds in active dispute over prey, rather than a single perched specimen, was a deliberate departure from natural history illustration convention. The plate was engraved and aquatinted by Robert Havell Jr. in London, whose printing workshop translated Audubon's watercolours into the large-format hand-coloured prints now held by institutions including the New-York Historical Society and the Smithsonian. Audubon was at the height of his ambition when this plate was completed: recently arrived in Britain, he was simultaneously raising subscriptions, supervising engravers, and continuing to paint new subjects at a pace that astonished his contemporaries.