McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
The Great Green Parroquet
Hispaniolan Parakeet
Psittacara chloropterus
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 Hispaniolan Parakeet from a 18th century specimen [modern geographical distribution: Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.] Attributed to Peter Paillou.
Manuscript note on front of drawing: The Great Green Parroquet (Psitticus macrourus virilise)
Manuscript note on back of drawing: A Long Tailed parrakeet From the West Indies
Scientific name: Psittacara chloropterus
With manuscript text on accompanying leaf.
Transcription of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Psitticus Macrourus
Viridis
Ps: Macrourus rotro [rostro] palpebris et
pedibus albidis irridibus ferruginiis
toto corpore viride magnitudine
columbae
The great green parroquet
Translation of manuscript note on accompanying leaf: Psitticus Macrourus
Viridis
Ps: Macrourus with a white beak,
eyes, and feet, reddish-brown irises,
and an entirely green body; it is the size
of a dove.
The great green parroquet