Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 38. (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 38th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1946. Purple Martin. Colour black, the whole body deep violet, very glossy; the tail not much forked. Hirundo subis Linn. Hirondelle de la Louisiane Buf. Pl. enl. 722. No. 1947. Female. head & upper parts deep brown with some tinge of violet; dingy white on the lower parts of the breast. These are common throughout the United States. They are useful on farms, to alarm the Poultry of the approach of Hawks, which they will attack with all the violence they are able and shrieking at the same time. It is very common to build houses to keep them in." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Purple Martin / Hirundo purpurea" in American Ornithology vol. 5 (Pl. 39), where "Peale's Museum, No. 7646" was cited (Wilson 1812: 58). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175520#page/68/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175520#page/57/mode/1up (plate)
An unmounted male specimen of "Hirundo purpurea (Martin)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] American Philosophical Society Library (Mss.B.P31).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Purple Martin
Current Scientific Name
Hirundinidae | Progne subis
