Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 16. (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 16th Lecture (ca. 1799): "Yellow headed Amazon Parrot. Buffon places this at the head of his Amazonian Parrots. Except the front part of the head which is yellow, the plumage is generally green; ridge of the wings red; quils varied with green, black, violet blue and red; the 2 outer tail feathers have the inner webs red at the base, beyond that a deep green to near the end, which is yellow green; legs grey; claws black. Ochrocephalus? Linn. Parroquet Verd et rouge de Cayenne Buff. pl. enl. 312. Peale also described "No. 138. a variety of the preceeding, having yellow on the ridge of the wing and joining the lower mandible on the cheeks"; and "No. 139. is also a Variety. a small spot of yellow on the forehead, above inclining to blue, [and] some spots of yellow on the back of the neck … These are all Parrots of South America, and often brought to this country." (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:
Yellow-crowned Amazon
Current Scientific Name
Psittacidae | Amazona ochrocephala
