Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 31. (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), in his 31st Lecture (ca. 1799), evidently (i.e., based on his descriptions of their habits, which were copied from other authors) confused the Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) and Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis); the name Alauda mosellana Gmelin, 1789 is a synonym of A. pratensis. Peale summarized, and sometimes copied verbatim, from Latham (1783: 374, A General Synopsis of Birds): "No. 1240. Marsh Lark. This European bird is of a more slender make and less than the skylark. The whole of its plumage inclines more or less to the rufous, the feathers on the upper part are brown edged with rufous, which give it a faint striped appearance. Alauda mosellana Linn. Rousseline ou l'Alouette de Marais Buff. pl. enl. 661. f. 1. Marsh Lark Latham [1783] p. 377. n. 9. Its name indicates that it is found in wet situations: it often frequents the sandy margin of the Moselle [River], in the neighborhood of Metz, in Germany, where it is seen every year in October. Like many other species of this kind, the marsh-lark begins its song at dawn, which is esteemed pleasant." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "Marsh Lark (a. mosellana). Inhabits Europe, and as its name indicates, in wet situations." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Meadow Pipit
Current Scientific Name
Motacillidae | Anthus pratensis
