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): "441. All Green Hummingbird. It agrees with Latham's description of a bird under this name in all the upper parts, but not white underneath, which is the case with one Edwards describes. The colour generally green, most brilliant about the head; the tail incining to deep blue, or as some authors express it, steely colour. I believe it is the Trochilus mellisugus Linn. … Buff. pl. enl. 276. f. 3. Though not correct, for this [has] not the light on the underparts like Buffon's plate." (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:
Blue-tailed Emerald
Current Scientific Name
Trochilidae | Chlorostilbon mellisugus
