Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 27. (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 27th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. […] Chesnut Jacana. The head, neck and upper part of the breast is black; back, wing coverts & scapulars fine chesnut colour; the outer angle of the wing mixed with black; on the shoulder a strong, sharp, yellow spine, a quarter of an Inch in length; quills olive yellow, with the ends of one third, and the tips, margined with dusky; feet greenish ash colour. Parra Jacana Linn. Le Jacana Buff. pl. enl. 322. Chesnut Jacana Latham No. 1. f. 1." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale continued: "This species inhabits Brasil, Guiana, and Surinam; but are equally common at St. Domingo, where they frequent the marshy places, sides of ponds and streams, and wade so deem as almost to bring their leg feathers into the water. Generally seen in pairs and when separated call each other incessantly, till they join again. This, as well as the other species, is called by the French, Chirurgien. The flesh is accounted pretty good eating. Naturalists are silent as to the use of those spurs on the wings. There are but few of this species of Birds yet known, chiefly belonging to South America and the West India Islands. One is found in Africa with much longer toes than that before us." (ANSP, coll. 40)
Notes:
Peale did not specify the origin of the specimen described in his lecture, 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:
Northern Jacana
Current Scientific Name
Jacanidae | Jacana spinosa
