McGill Library
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Java Sparrow
Java Sparrow
Lonchura oryzivora
P. Paillou janvery 1759;
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 pair of Java Sparrows from 18th century specimens [modern geographical distribution: the Philippines, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Hawaii].
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Java Sparrow (Munia oryzivora) P. Paillou janvery 1759;
Manuscript note on back of drawing: The Java sparrow or Rice Bird
Scientific name: Lonchura oryzivora
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aves Passeres Loxia
Loxia
Rostrum conico-gibbum, fronte
subcalvum. Mandibula inferior
margine laterali inflexa.
Nares in basi rostri.
Lingua integra
Aves Passeres Loxia
Oryzivora
14 Loxia fusca temporibus albis rostro
rubro.
L.S.N. p. 173
Habitat in Asia & Ethiopia inter
oryzam.
The
Rice Bird
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Aves Passeres Loxia
Loxia
The beak has a humped-conical shape;
with a somewhat bald forehead, and a curved edge
on the side of the lower mandible.
The nares are in the base of the beak.
The tongue is whole.
Aves Passeres Loxia
Oryzivora
14 Loxia fusca [The tawny...] with white temples and
a red beak.
L.S.N. p. 173
It lives in Asia and Ethiopia amidst
the rice.
The
Rice Bird