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. 1885. Blue-backed Manakin. Bill dusky; irides sapphire blue; general plumage black, except the back, and lesser wing coverts, which are a very fine blue; the feathers on the top of the head long, forming a crest, flat on the top, and indented in the middle at the back part, the colour a glowing crimson; feet red. Pipra pareola Linn. Manakin Noir huppé B[uffon] 687. f. 2. Young birds are at first green all over, except the crest, which is crimson, but less bright. This we are assured of from now and then meeting with birds with mixed colours of blue, green, and black, in their various intermediate approaches towards their perfect state. It has been said that the females are wholly the olive green colour, ever remaining so but still retain the crest like the male, and Mr. Buffon has given a plate No. 303 f. 2. of such. These birds are natives of Brasil and Cayenne, and have also been met with in the Isle of Cuba." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, 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:
Blue-backed Manakin
Current Scientific Name
Pipridae | Chiroxiphia pareola
