Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 15. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 15th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 105. Lanius collaris Linn.; Buff. pl. enl. 477. f. 1. Collared Shrike Lath. I. i. p. 163. No. 7. This came from Batavia [=Jakarta, Java, Indonesia]" (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40).
Peale evidently changed his mind about the identity of this specimen, and moved it in the genus Turdus, where he gave it a different number in his 31st Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1309. Recd…from Batavia. Turdus orientalis Linn.; Merle des Indes Orientalis Buff. pl. enl. 273. Lath. II. I. p. 74. n. 97. ash rumped Thrush." (ANSP Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "No. [blank] ash rumped Thrush (T. orientalis) this … received from Batavia." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Notes:
Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris) has a restricted range in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is not found in Indonesia. Therefore, it seems likely that Peale's specimen was a Pied Triller (Lalage nigra), a Javan species that is superficially similar. The name "Turdus orientalis" is another archaic name that likely referred to this species. The editor (MRH) has been unable to confirm the source of Peale’s specimens from Java, Indonesia, but there is ample reason to suspect that he received them from Thomas Horsfield (1773-1859), the physician and naturalist. In 1799, Horsfield, who was born and raised in southeast Pennsylvania, and educated at the University of Pennsylvania, took a medical post on the merchant ship China, which sailed to Java. He remained there until 1819, during which time he collected specimens on behalf of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (1781-1826), governor of the Dutch East Indies. In January 1799, before he left for Java, Horsfield visited Peale’s Museum and purchased a ticket “for the year 1799 which intitles [sic] the Purchaser to the use of the Museum every day while the Sun is above the Horizon. Each Ticket [cost] two Dollars.” His signature (“Thos. Horsfield”) appears in a Peale Museum Subscription Book (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481). / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Horsfield
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Pied Triller
Current Scientific Name
Campephagidae | Lalage nigra
