Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 17. (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 17th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 199. Guiana Oriole. Length 7 ¼ Inches. The bill brownish; general colour of the plumage black; each feather margined with grey, but the under part, from the chin to the under part of the breast, to the legs, and the lower wing coverts, red; tail somewhat striated with grey; feet & claws brown. Inhabits Guiana. Oriolus guyanensis Linn. Troupiale de la guyane. Buff. pl enl. 536. Guiana oriole. Latham No. 15. p. 430." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
Peale did not specify the origin of his specimen, but it seems likely to be Cayenne, French Guiana, a major South American trade center in the 18th century. In 1793, Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) travelled to Cayenne to collect specimens for Peale's Museum. However, to the editor's (MRH) knowledge, there is no detailed inventory of the specimens he brought back, and there are many examples of specimens from northern South America that were donated by other people. For more discussion about Raphaelle's travels, see Lillian B. Miller, 1993, "Father and Son: The Relationship of Charles Willson Peale and Raphaelle Peale", The American Art Journal 25: 4-161. / https://doi.org/10.2307/1594599
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Red-breasted Meadowlark
Current Scientific Name
Icteridae | Leistes militaris
