The House Wren
Princeton Audubon Double Elephant Edition •Double elephant (life size - 26 1/4 x 39 1/4) •Limited edition of 1500. •Pencil-numbered and embossed with the Princeton Audubon Limited seal. •Up to 11 color plates used. •Specially developed fade-proof inks. Absolute color fidelity to the actual original. •Printed on a 300 line. •Very heavy archival paper which is recommended by the Library of Congress for archives and is specially toned to match the actual color of the antique originals. •Registered to purchaser. •As permanently displayed at The Royal Society of London, to which Audubon belonged as a Fellow.
About the image itself ...
Audubon made a pastel drawing of a male house wren when he and his wife were in Pennsylvania in 1812. Later, he made use of this work to produce the present composition showing the wren nest in a felt hat. His penciled outline of the tree limb was completed for the engraving by Robert Havell, Jr.
Audubon wrote of his original painting: "I knew of one [nest] in the pocket of an old broken-down carriage, and many in such an old hat as you see represented in the plate...I hope you will...look at the little creatures anxiously peeping out or hanging to the side of the hat, to meet their mother; which has just arrived with a spider, whilst the male is on the lookout, ready to interpose should any intruder come near."
Wrens are great scolders, and this species speaks with a deep, grating chatter. Its bulling and tempestuous song is a series of short notes poured out in a rapid burst that suddenly rises and then falls.
