McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Buffle-head
Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
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 Bufflehead from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: North America and Western Europe.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Buffle-head (Charitonetta albeola)
Manuscript note on back of drawing: from Newfoundland
Scientific name: Bucephala albeola
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Albeola
15 Anas alba, dorso remigibusque
nigris, capite caerulescente, occipite
albo. L.S.N. 124.
Habitat in America
The Little Black & White Duck
Edw. p. 100
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Albeola
15 Anas alba [The white...], with a black back and black flight feathers on the wings, a bluish head, and a
white crown. L.S.N. 124
It lives in America.
The Little Black & White Duck
Edw. p. 100