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): "435. Gold Green Humming bird. The whole of the plumage of this Bird is green, except a dirty white on its belly breast; the upper mandible black and the under light. I cannot find any description perfectly agreeing with this bird but it [is] nearest to the Trochilus mellisugus of Linn. L'oiseau mouche de Cayenne Buff. pl. enl. 276. f. 3. and the Cayenne Humming bird of Latham No. 37." (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, 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 Peale's description is inadequate to identify the species.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Unidentified hummingbird
Current Scientific Name
Trochilidae | Unidentified
