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Nightjar
Eurasian Nightjar
Caprimulgus europaeus
P. Paillou Fect. October 1744
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 Eurasian Nightjars from 18th century specimens [modern geographical distribution: Europe, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Central Asia, and the Middle East].
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Nightjar (Caprimulgus europeus) P. Paillou Fect. October 1744
Scientific name: Caprimulgus europaeus
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Caprimulgus
Rostrum incurvum, minimum
subulatum basi depressum
vibrissae ad os seriae [serie] ciliari
Rictus amplissimus. L.S.N. p. 193
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Caprimulgus
The beak is curved, small,
awl-shaped, and depressed at the base,
with a row of hair-like whiskers near the mouth;
the gape is very wide. L.S.N. p. 193