McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Ruby-throated Hummingbird [male] & [female]
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
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 trio of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds from 18th century specimens [modern geographical distribution: the United States, Canada East of Rockies, the Canadian Prairies, Mexico, and Central America.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Ruby-throated Hummingbird [male] & [female] (Trochilus colubris)
Scientific name: Archilochus colubris
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Colubris
T. rectricibus nigris: litteralibus tribus
apice albus gula rubra. L.S.N. p. 120
Habitat in America
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Colubris
T. with black flight feathers on the tail, with three on the sides
with white tips, and a red throat. L.S.N. p. 120
It lives in America.