McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Canada Spruce Grouse [male]
Spruce Grouse, male
Falcipennis canadensis
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 male Spruce Grouse from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Canada, Alaska, and the Northern United States.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Canada Spruce Grouse [male] (Canachites canadensis canane)
Scientific name: Falcipennis canadensis
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Canadensis
Tetrao Redibus [Pedibus] hirsutis rectricibus
nigris apice fulvis, lituris duabus
albis ad Occulos. L.S.N: p. 159
Habitat in Canada
The Canada Grouse
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Canadensis
Tetrao with shaggy feet, black flight feathers on the tail
with tawny tips, and two white smears
near the eyes. L.S.N. p.159
It lives in Canada
The Canada Grouse