Audubon Plate # 328,  Long-legged Avocet    $400

Print size: 26 1/4" x 39 1/4"; image size: 18 1/2" x 14"

Audubon painted this bird in New Orleans on May 2, 1821.  That day he wrote in his journal, "drew a Long Legged Plover...it was a Male I received it from Mr. [Ambrose] Duval the Miniature Painter who assured Me that he had Killed 6 or 7..., all alike no difference whatever in the size or Coloring...Was pleased with the Position in my drawing ..."

Elliott Coues penned a graphic description of the movements of the long-legged wader.   "On the ground, whether walking or wading, the bird moves gracefully, with measured steps; the long legs are much bent at every step (only at the joint, however) and planted firmly, perfectly straight;...When feeding, the legs are bent backward with an acute angle at the heel joint to bring the body lower; the latter is tilted forward and downward over the center of equilibrium, where the feet rest, and the long neck and bill reach the rest of the distance to the ground."  EHJ