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. 1531. Green headed Tanager. Size of the house sparrow; length about 5 ½ Inches; Bill black; the base [is] surroundid with black feathers; general colour of the bird green; the head of a pale sea-green; upper part and sides of the neck green gold; chin the colour of the head; on the throat a large black spot. the upper part of the back is also black, near the tail orange yellow; fore part of the breast sea green; next the tail, bright yellowish green; the lesser and middle wing coverts violet blue, the secondaries bright green. Tanagra tricolor Linn. Tangara varié à tête verte de Cayenne. Buff. pl. enl. 33. f. 1. It belongs to Cayenne, but the manners quite unknown." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806): "the Green headed Tanager (T. tricolor) [=T. seledon] is handsome and its manners very little known to authors." (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:
Green-headed Tanager
Current Scientific Name
Thraupidae | Tangara seledon
