Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 36. (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) described a male of this species in his 36th Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1801. Cayanne Warbler. the head, back of the neck and body a beautiful blue, in some lights it reflects green. Throat, top of the back, wing quills & tail deep black; the edges of the quills of the wings green. Motacilla cayana Linn. Pitpit bleu de Cayanne Buff. pl. enl. [669] f. 1. The black on the throat does not appear in this plate of Buffon, so that we may consider this a variety." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale also described the adult female, which he assumed was a different species: "No. 1802. Blue headed Warbler. head and upper wing coverts blue; throat blueish grey; the rest of the body, with the greater wing coverts, bright green; quills brown, edged with green. Motacilla cyancephala Linn. Pitpit vert. Buffon. Blue-headed Warbler Latham No. 139. Inhabits Cayenne." (ANSP Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
Peale did not specify the origin of his specimen, 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 Dacnis
Current Scientific Name
Thraupidae | Dacnis cayana
