Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 15. (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 15th Lecture (ca. 1799): "[No. 124 …] Parrot. It is not only found in Guiana but in the […] Islands; about one foot in length. The bill is whitish; tip cinereous; parts above green; beneath paler; under lesser covert wing scarlet; tail in length 6 inhes; the 2 middle feathers longer than outer ones by 3 inches; (this [specimen] is imperfect); legs gray, claws black. Psittacus guyanensis Linn. Perruche de la Guyana Buff. pl. enl. 407. Buffon observes that when young, these birds have only a green heard, but after 3 years old they have their cheeks spotted with red. It is of all the Parrakeets the most apt to talk plain, and, though kept for a long time in the cage, always shows a peculiar wildness in its nature." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
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:
White-eyed Parakeet
Current Scientific Name
Psittacidae | Psittacara leucophthalmus
