Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 37. (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 37th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1910. Great Titmouse, or [Ooe-eye]. It is 5 Inches & ¾ long. Head and throat are black; cheeks white; back and wings olive green; breast greenish yellow; down the middle of it an irregular stripe of black, dividing it quite to the tail; lower part of the back blue-grey; quills dusky, edged with grey; the greater coverts tipped with white, forming a bar on the wing; tail dusky black; the outer feathers white on the outside, but the others blue-grey; feet lead colour. Parus major Linn. Le grosse Mesange, ou la Charbonniere Buff. pl. enl. 3. f. 1." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale continued: "This bird is found throughout Europe, as well as other parts of the old continent. We hear of it from Sweden to the Cape of Good-hope. In England it is a very common bird frequenting gardens, except in breeding time, when it is seen mostly in the woods, and builds in hollow trees, laying from 8 to 12 Eggs, which are white spotted with rust colour. The family after hatching keep togather till the next spring, when they separate in paris. Said to build twice, and even three times, in a year, if the first nests have been taken. What little note it has is not disagreable, but is too little varied to be kept for the purpose of singing; nor is the flesh good to eat, being very bitter. It generally lives 5 years; but it is said to be subject to cramps, and other diseases." (ANSP Archives, coll. 40)
In a supplemental page of his 37th Lecture, Peale wrote: "No. 1916. Great Titmouse of [ooe]-Eye. Lath. II. 2. p. 536. n. 2. Grosse Mésange ou Charbonniere. Buff. pl. enl. n. 3. f. 1. Parus major. Linn. Receive[d this] from the Paris Museum. [I do not know] Whether that I received from England (N. 1910) has lost its vivid colour, or [are] less brilliant than those of France, which I cannot well suppose, as the distance between those countries is no great; but that of France is so much gayer that I am induced to put it with the other. I found also, that n. 1912 [Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus] which I also recd from the Paris Museum is brighter than the other which I recd from London." (ANSP Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
Palisot de Beauvois (1752-1820), the French naturalist, approached Peale about a specimen exchange in October 1794, to which Peale replied: “You desire to know if I would be willing to exchange Birds and other subjects of natural history to supply the public museum at Paris [i.e., Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, known to Peale as the "Paris Museum"]—My first Object is to furnish my [own] Museum with all the Various Animals in the several classes and other objects of Natural History belonging to America, and secondly, while I am engaged in this labour, to prepare duplicates with the view of exchanging them for the subjects of the other quarters of the Globe—by which means I hope to inrich my Museum in a mode which I conceive will be most agreable to the Amateurs of this delightful Science on the other side of the Water, who may be desirous of possessing those of America—I mean by a reciprocal exchange of Subject for subject.” (Miller 1988, Selected Papers, Vol. 2, part 1, Yale University Press) / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Natural_History,_France For more discussion about Beauvois’s time in Philadelphia, and how he helped Peale catalogue the taxidermy collection, see Matthew R. Halley, 2022, “Rediscovery of the holotype of the American Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis atricapillus (Wilson, 1812), and a commentary about Alexander Wilson’s contributions to the Peale Museum. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 167: 233–240. / https://doi.org/10.1635/053.167.0114 The specimen exchange with the Paris Museum eventually came to pass in the late 1790s, as Peale corresponded with Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844). On April 30, 1797, in a letter accompanying two cases of specimens, Peale wrote: “I have many Birds which is not described in Catesby, and several, which are not to be found in any of the authors on Natural History duplicates of which I will send you, with all such articles as you may want, and in my power to procure ... I have imbraced [sic] the first coming of the birds this season, and daily with one of my Sons hunt & preserve all we can. We have already mounted a tolerable number of the small birds in a handsome condition—and by constantly shooting ourselves, we are able to gain a knowledge of their manners.” (Miller 1988: 198–199) Peale wrote to Pierre-Auguste Adet (1763-1834) on 31 May 1798: “with my Son Titian I continue my hunting excursions to collect & preserve Subjects with equal diligence … this year add so many new subjects yet we have got some that are nondescripts—and that while I am increasing my store we find by practice proved—I am anxious to hear from Mr. Geoffroy whether he wishes Birds mounted in the manner of those I have sent or whether he would prefer them without being fixed with wires and mounted on Sticks.” (Miller 1988: 215). Peale wrote to Geoffrey on 13 July 1802: “Sir, Your favor of the 26 Feby and the Package of Birds I have received—they were in very good condition one or two only excepted.” (Miller 1988: 440)
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Great Tit
Current Scientific Name
Paridae | Parus major
