McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Cougar
Cougar, Mountain Lion, Puma
Puma concolor
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 Cougar--also known as a Mountain Lion or a Puma--from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: North America and South America.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Cougar (Felis couguar)
Manuscript note on back of drawing: Catus montanus fusco nigrescens magnitudine pardo aequalis A mountain cat from Virginia
Scientific name: Puma concolor
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Felis
Catus Montanus
Felis Colore parte superiore fusco nigrescente
ore & genibus albis
parte inferiore albido
Fronte & facie nigrescentibus
linies [lineis] subtus moxilas [maxillas] & nucha cauda nigris
magnitudine Pardo aequalis
Habitat in Virginea.
The Virginian Mountain Cat
I had the skin of this Beast from
other parts of America under the
name of the Tiger Skin. it is said
this creature climbs trees with great
ease & watches in a Tree for its prey.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Mammalia Ferae Felis
Catus Montanus
Felis with tawny-black coloured upperparts, a white
mouth and cheeks,
white underparts,
a black forehead and face
black lines below the jaw, and a black nape and tail.
It is the same size as the leopard.
It lives in Virginia.
The Virginian Mountain Cat
I had the skin of this Beast from
other parts of America under the
name of the Tiger Skin. it is said
this creature climbs trees with great
ease & watches in a Tree for its prey.