Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 26. (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 26th Lecture (ca. 1799): "841. Red breasted Snipe. The breast is russet red, extending from the bill to the legs, below that white; all the upper part of the back, head & wings speckled with black, russet and white; wings extending to the end of the tail. The bill is scarcely 2 inches long; Pennant says 2 & 1/8. 842. The female is much like the male." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
In "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805-1806), Peale briefly mentioned the "New York sandpiper" (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481).
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Red-breasted Snipe / Scolopax noveboracensis" in American Ornithology vol. 7 (Pl. 58), where "Peale's Museum, No. 3932" was cited (Wilson 1813: 45). / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175507#page/57/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175507#page/56/mode/1up (plate)
Notes:
Peale's reference to "New York Sandpiper" likely refers to L. griseus (see McAtee 1963, Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 4: 100–124).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Short-billed Dowitcher
Current Scientific Name
Scolopacidae | Limnodromus griseus
