McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Saffron Finch
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Sicalis flaveola
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on 2019 species identification.
Level of description
Item
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG BW002-653
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(approximately 1720-approximately 1790)
Biographical history
Peter Paillou was born in London into a Huguenot family and was recognised in his own time as an eminent ‘bird painter’. In 1744 he began to paint for Taylor White and worked for him for almost thirty years, painting chiefly birds and mammals. He painted as well for Robert More, Joseph Banks, and for the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. Many of his paintings of birds were used as the basis for book illustrations, often engraved by his colleague and fellow Huguenot, Peter Mazell. Paillou was elected to the Society of Artists and in 1763 he exhibited ‘A Piece of Birds, in Watercolours; the Hen of the Wood and Cock of the Red Game’. In 1778, to considerable approval, he also showed a picture of ‘A Horned Owl from Peru’, completely made from feathers.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Drawing of a pair of Saffron Finches from 18th century specimens [modern geographical distribution: South America, the Caribbean, and Hawaii.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Manuscript note on back of drawing: The Yellow Hammer from the Brasil
General note
Scientific name: Sicalis flaveola
Accompanying material
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Accompanying material
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Furcata
E. viridi flava, pileo rubicundo,
cauda bifurcata.
Rostrum crassum, fere ut in Loxiis
Mandibula superiore plumbea, inferiore
lutescente. Caput supra rubicundum;
Collum luteum, Gula rubro irrorata.
Corpus viridi-flavum; Alae viridescentes
Cauda e flavo-viridis, bifurcata
lobis obtusis extrorsum recurvatis
Pedes cinerei.
Obs. Penna prope alas subrecurvatae.
Aves Passeres Fringilla Embriza
24 Flaveola Emb[e]riza flava grisea, facie flava fronte fulva
habitat in calidis regionionibus [regionibus].
Corpus magnitudine Ligurini.
Frons & gula flava.
remigibus rectricibus q[ue] nigris flavo
marginatis. L.S.N. p. 321 ed. nov.
Accompanying material
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Furcata
E. viridi flava [The golden-yellow green...] with a ruby-coloured cap, and a forked tail.
The beak is fat, almost as in the Loxiis.
The upper mandible is lead-coloured, the lower mandible is
yellow. The head is ruby-coloured on top;
the neck is yellow, the throat is speckled with red.
The body is greenish-golden-yellow; the wings are green,
the tail is coloured from golden-yellow to green, it is forked
with blunt lobes curved outwards;
the feet are ash-coloured.
Obs[ervation] the feathers near the wings are somewhat curled back.
Aves Passeres Fringilla
24 Flaveola
Emb[e]riza grisea [The grey...] with a reddish-yellow forehead.
It lives in warm regions.
The body is the size of the Ligurini.
The forehead and throat are golden-yellow,
with black flight feathers on the wings and tail with golden-yellow
borders. L.S.N. p. 321 ed. nov.
Alternative identifier(s)
Volume number
Birds Volume 10, Painting 42