McGill Library
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Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
The Brown breasted Parrot
Brown-throated Parakeet
Eupsittula pertinax
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 Brown-throated Parakeet from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Central America, South America, and Antilles.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: Psittacus pectore fusco; The Brown breasted Parrot from the Brazils;
Scientific name: Eupsittula pertinax
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Psittacus Pectore fusco
P: Br: viridis rostro albido fronte et genis et
humeris flavis vertice Dorso parte suprema
alarum et medio cauda viridibus collo et
pectore fusco remigibus caeruleis maculo
coccineo in mediis posito rectricibus
externis flavis femoribus abdomineq[ue]
viridibus.
The Brown Breasted
Parrot.
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Psittacus Pectore fusco
P: Br: viridis [The green parrot with a brown breast], with a white beak, a golden-yellow forehead, cheeks,
and shoulders; a green crown, back, top of the wings,
and middle of the tail; a tawny neck
and breast; blue flight feathers on the wings
with a scarlet patch in the middle; golden-yellow outermost
flight feathers on the tail; and green thighs and abdomen.
The Brown Breasted
Parrot.