McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Common Heron
Gray Heron
Ardea cinerea
Char. CollinsFect. 1739;
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm + 1 leaf
Charles Collins was an Irish painter, known for his portraits of animals and still-lifes. He achieved success in England painting exotic birds, game, dogs and dead game still-lifes. He was the painter for Robert Furber’s ‘Twelve Months of Fruit’ (1732). In 1736 he published in collaboration with John Lee a set of 12 large engravings, coloured by hand, of British birds in landscape and garden settings, entitled Icones avium cum nominibus anglicis. He then came to the attention of Taylor White, who engaged him to paint birds from his and others’ collections until 1743. Collins died in 1744, when he was described as ‘Bird Painter to the Royal Society.’
Drawing of a Gray Heron from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Europe, Africa, and Asia].
Stains along edges.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Common Heron (Ardea cinerea) Char. CollinsFect. 1739;
Manuscript note on back of drawing: [Watercolor of specimen's head] The Night Raven Nycticorax
Scientific name: Ardea cinerea
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Cinerea
Ardea occipite crista pendula
dorso caerulescente, subtus albida,
pectore maculis oblongis nigris.
Habitat in Europa; L.S.N. p. 143
nidificant in aboribus [arboribus] plures simul.
The
Comon AshColoured
Heron.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Cinerea
Ardea with a crest hanging from the hindhead,
a blue back, white underparts,
and black oblong patches on the breast.
It lives in Europe; L.S.N. p. 143
They build their nests in trees, colonially.
The
Comon AshColoured
Heron.