McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Crested Quail-Dove
Geotrygon versicolor
Item
1 watercolour painting ; 56 x 39 cm
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 Crested Quail-Dove from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Jamaica.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Scientific name: Geotrygon versicolor
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Montana Columba obscure rufa subtus flava, obita [orbita] oculorum nudea sanginea [sanguinea]. L.N.S. [sic] p.163 Habitat in Jamaica
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Montana Columba it is dark-red with golden-yellow underparts, and bare blood-red rings around the eyes. L.N.S.[sic] p.163 It lives in Jamaica