Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 34. (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 34th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1594. Brasilian Finch. Length about 4 ¾ Inches. Bill coral red; irides dark; eyelids scarlet; sides of the head round the Eye, blossom-coloured violet; next the base of the upper bill blue; throat black; the head & body chesnut next the tail blue; quills brown; tail black & cuneiform. Fringilla granatina Linn. Le Grenadin Buff. pl. enl. 109. f. 3. Brasilian Finch Latham p. 316. No. 87. This beautiful bird inhabits Brasil, has an agreeable Song, and is frequently kept in cages. It is a lively bird." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "we will leave this case to notice one still more beautiful in the Brazilian Finch (F. granatina)" (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481).
Notes:
This species is actually native to Africa—not Brazil. The error evidently stems from Edwards (1751: 191, A Natural History of Uncommon Birds...) who seems to have received erroneous information about the origin of a specimen in a private London collection, which was then copied by Linnaeus (1766, Systema Naturae). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/250087#page/114/mode/1up
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Violet-eared Waxbill
Current Scientific Name
Estrildidae | Granatina granatina
