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. 1589. Cowpen finch. the head and neck of a dusky brown; back, wings and body of a fine black glossed with green and blue. No. 1590. Female. Crown and upper part of a deep brown; the throat a dingy white; the rest of the plumage of a sooty brown black. Fringilla pecoris Linn. Brunet Buff. Cowpen finch Pennant 371. No. 241. Latham No. 24. Catesby Cowpen bird, 1 Voll. t. 34. They are common throughout the United States, commonly seen about cattle, hence the name. They winter in Virginia & the Carolinas." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "The Cowpen finch (F. Pecoris) is a familiar bird, that feed about cows." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Cow Bunting / Emberiza pecoris" in American Ornithology vol. 2 (Pl. 18), where "Peale's Museum, No. 6378" (male) and "[No.] 6379" (female) were cited (Wilson 1810: 145). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175511#page/167/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175511#page/166/mode/1up (plate)
A mounted specimen of "Fringilla pecoris (Cowpen Finch)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] American Philosophical Society Library (Mss.B.P31).
Notes:
Peale evidently did not know about the parasitic behavior of cowbirds.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Brown-headed Cowbird
Current Scientific Name
Icteridae | Molothrus ater
