McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Eurasian Griffon
Gyps fulvus
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 Eurasian Griffon from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Europe, Central Asia, India, the Middle East, North Africa, and East Africa.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on back of drawing: a Vulturine eagle
Scientific name: Gyps fulvus
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aquila Vulturina
Cera flava Rostro Nigro pedibus luteis,
Fronte fusco lineis nigris Striato caetera parte
Capitis Caerulescente gula plumosa sicut in
specie Vulturina invenitur colore caerulescente
uropigio Cauda Cruribusq[ue] albis caeteris
partibus albis maculis fuscis Notatis.
Cauda apice nigra, ut & remiges
Pedes lanati.
The Vulturine Eagle or Brown
and White Vultur
it differs from Vulturs in having its head
covered with Feathers instead of short
down
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aquila Vulturina [The Vulturine Eagle]
with a golden-yellow cere, black beak, yellow feet,
and a tawny forehead grooved with black lines; the rest of the head is blue, the throat is feathered and just as in
the Vulturina species it appears to be blue in colour;
with a white rump, tail, and legs, and all the other parts
being white and marked with tawny spots.
The tail has a black tip, as also the flight feathers on the wings;
and the feet are downy.
The Vulturine Eagle or Brown
and White Vulture
It differs from Vultures in having its head
covered with Feathers instead of short
down
Image
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