Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 12 October 1792
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, letter to Thomas Hall of Moorfields, London, dated 12 October 1792; Selected Papers, 2, part 1: 43.
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) sent a "Black and white striped bird with yellow spots on its breast [i.e., sides], head & rump" (i.e., a breeding male of this species) to Thomas Hall in London, on 12 October 1792 (Miller 1988: 42, Selected Papers, Vol. 2, part 1, Yale University Press). And, in early 1793, Peale sent another "Black & white spickled [bird], with yellow on the head rump & each side of the breast" to Hall (Miller 1988: 46).
In his 36th Lecture, Peale wrote: "No. 1776. Yellow rump Warbler. The top of the head cinerous, but if the middle of the feathers is seaparated the under feathers are a fine yellow; on each side of the breast, on the back, next [to] the tail, is also yellow; hind part of the neck & back olive green, spotted with black; throat white, breast spotted with black; underneath the body white; wings dark ash colour; coverts crossed with two bars of white; tail dark with white spots on the inner webs of the outside feathers; a bar of black on each cheek; a white line over the Eyes, and a white spot beneath the Eye. Motacilla maculosa Linn. Figuier à tête cendrée Buff. No. 1777. Female, like the male, with less brilliant plumage. It is somewhat extraordinary that the under feathers on the head are not taken notice off [sic] by any of the authors. I've had an abundance of these birds in Pennsylvania in the spring and fall. I often see them in our Market." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote in a draft copy of "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "Yellow Rump W. (M. maculosa) male & female" (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481). The page of the final draft containing this species has not been located.
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described a specimen in breeding plumage under the name "Yellow-rump Warbler / Sylvia coronata" in American Ornithology vol. 2 (Wilson 1810, Pl. 17), where "Peale's Museum No. 7134" was cited (Wilson 1810: 138). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175511#page/158/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175511#page/152/mode/1up (plate)
An unmounted specimen of "Motacilla maculosa (Yellow rump'd W)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] American Philosophical Society Library (Mss.B.P31).
Notes:
This species appeared again, in non-breeding plumage, in Wilson's vol. 5 (1812, American Ornithology, Pl. 45), without a Peale citation.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Current Scientific Name
Parulidae | Setophaga coronata
