McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
American Rough-legged Hawk (dark phase?)
Rough Legged Hawk (dark morph)
Buteo lagopus
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
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.
Drawing of a Rough Legged Hawk from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: North America, Europe, Russia, and Central and Northeast Asia.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: American Rough-legged Hawk (dark phase?) (Buteo lagopus sancti-johannis)
Scientific name: Buteo lagopus
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Falco
Falco Lagopus
Falco Lagopus. rostro nigro Cera
flava. pedibus lanatis fronte albo
Corpore fusco Albo variegato. Cauda
fasciis albis notata. pedibus flavis.
Faemina ut opinor. Habitat in Canada
& Labrador.
The Rough Footed Falcon
The female as I supose
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Falco
Falco Lagopus
Falco Lagopus [The hare's foot falcon] with a black beak and golden-yellow cere, downy feet, a white front,
a speckled tawny and white body, a tail
marked with white bands, and golden-yellow feet.
I believe this is the female. It lives in Canada
and Labrador.
The Rough Footed Falcon
The female as I supose