Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 20. (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 20th Lecture (ca. 1799): "442. Black-breasted Humming Bird. The throat and lower part of the neck are of an emerald green; the breast black; the upper part of the body dull green. The tail even, the middle feathers green and on each sude russet. Wings brown & reach nearly of the same length of the tail. The [length] of the bird about 4 Inches. Latham's description [No. 16] nearly agreeing with this, I have adopted his name. I imagine it was brought from St. Dominque [Haiti] as I got it from a collection belonging to a French gentleman who lived there, previous [to] their late troubles. Le Haupee col vert. Buff." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Notes:
Peale's description is suggestive of Hispaniolan Emerald (Riccordia swainsonii), except for his description of the tail, which is deeply forked in that species.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Unidentified hummingbird
Current Scientific Name
Trochilidae | Unidentified
