Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 33. (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 33rd Lecture (ca. 1799): "No. 1527. Bishop Tanager. this is a female. the plumage is not so bright as Buffons plate. the general plumage is brown, a little green on the head, and light blaze on the wings. Tanagra episcopus Linn. Tangara de Cayenne, appellá l'éveque Buff. pl. enl. 156. 2. The male is entirely blue. This species inhabits Cayenne, especially about the skirts of the forests, and feeds on the lesser kind of fruits; sometimes found in large flocks, but observed to keep two and two together; roosts at night on the Palm trees; and has little or no song, except a sharp and disagreeable voice may be called such. It is called by the inhabitants of Cayenne, L'Eveque." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "Bishop Tanager (T. episcopus) it got this name from the Inhabitants of Cayenne its native place." (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481)
Notes:
In 1793, Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) travelled to Cayenne, French Guiana, 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-gray Tanager
Current Scientific Name
Thraupidae | Thraupis episcopus
