| Description | Notebook entitled 'Drawings on talc of Birds of Southern India' containing 24 water-colour drawings of birds of south India, painted on mica and mounted in an album, with scientific names added to the mounts and thought to have been produced by a native artist.
All drawings ca. 110 x 155 mm, gouache on mica, by an unknown Trichinopoly artist, c 1859. 20 of them are versions of drawings published as hand-coloured lithographys in Thomas Caverhill Jerdon's "Illustrations of Indian Ornithology" (Madras, 1843-1847).
1. Bonelli's eagle ("Aquila fasciata" Viellot)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Nisaetus Strennas'.
A version of Plate 1 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part i, 1843), which is named "Nisaetus strenuus" on the plate, but "N. grandis" in the letterpress and "N. Bonelli" on the contents page.
2. Black bittern ("Ixobrychus flavicollis" Latham)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Ardea Flavicollis lath.'
A version of Plate 16 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part ii, 1845), which is named "Ardea nigra" on the plate, but "A. flavicollis" Latham in the letterpress and on the contents page.
3. Slender-billed scimitar babbler ("Pomatorhinus superciliaris" Blyth)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Simitar Billed Babbler'.
A version of Plate 49 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iv, 1847), in which it is called "Xiphorhamphus superciliaris".
Note. This bird is not South Indian, the specimen drawn was from Darjeeling, probably supplied by Edward Blyth.
4. Oriental Scops owl ("Otus sunia" Hodgson)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Red scops Owl'.
A version of Plate 41 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iv, 1847), in which it is called "Scops sunia".
5. Asian paradise-flycatcher, male of the white form ("Terpsiphone paradisi" L.)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Sultan Bulbul male'.
This is not taken from Jerdon's "Illustrations" (at least from any of the published parts).
6. Asian paradise-flycatcher, male of the rufous form ("Terpsiphone paradisi" L.)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Sultan Bulbul Female'.
This is not taken from Jerdon's "Illustrations" (at least from any of the published parts). In the letterpress for Jerdon's Plate 7 'Sultana Bulbul' is given as the translation of the Hindustani name of the chestnut form, but this drawing is incorrectly labelled as 'female', whereas it shows the male of the rufous form of the species.
7. Heart-spotted woodpecker, male ("Hemicircus canente" Lesson)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Heart stopped Woodpecker'.
A version of part of Plate 40 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Picus cordatus" and "Hemicircus cordatus".
8. Heart-spotted woodpecker, female ("Hemicircus canente" Lesson)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'male Woodpecker'.
A version of part of Plate 40 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Picus cordatus" and "Hemicircus cordatus".
9. Flame-throated bulbul ("Pycnonotus gularis" Gould)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Ruby Throatened Bulbul'.
A version of Plate 37 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Brachypus rubineus".
10. Asian paradise-flycatcher, male ("Terpsiphone paradisi" L.)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Mussepita'.
A version of Plate 7 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part i, 1845), in which is called "Muscipeta paradisea" on the plate and in the text.
11. Malabar white-headed starling ("Sturnia blythii" Jerdon)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Pastor Blythy'.
A version of Plate 22 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part ii, 1845), in which it is called "Pastor Blythii".
Note. Sometimes treated as a subspecies of the S and E Asian chestnut-tailed starling as "S. malabarica blythii".
12. Indian bushlark ("Mirafra erythroptera" Blyth)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Red Winged Lark'.
A version of Plate 38 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), where the species was described.
13. Oriental dwarf kingfisher ("Ceyx erithaca" L.)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'King fisher'.
A version of Plate 25 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part ii, 1845), in which it is called "Ceyx tridactyla".
14. Brahminy kite ("Haliastur indus" Boddaert)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Bromony Kite'.
This is not taken from Jerdon's "Illustrations" (at least from any of the published parts).
15. Jerdon's leafbird ("Chloropsis jerdoni" Blyth)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Common Green Bulbul male Female'.
A version of Plate 43 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iv, 1847), in which it was named by Blyth as "Chloropsis Jerdoni".
16. Besra ("Accipiter virgatus" Temminck)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Accipiter Besra'.
A version of Plate 29 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Accipiter Besra".
17. Eastern grass owl ("Tyto longimembris" Jerdon)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Long Legged Grass Owl'.
A version of Plate 30 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Strix candida".
18. Black-rumped flameback ("Dinopium benghalense jaffnense" Whistler)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Red woodpecker'.
A version of Plate 47 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iv, 1847), in which it is called "Picus ceylonus".
Note. This race occurs in Ceylon but not in South India, the specimen drawn was sent by Lord Arthur Hay.
19. Sapphire flycatcher ("Ficedula sapphira" Blyth)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Sapphire Billed Babbler'.
A version of Plate 32 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Muscicapula sapphira".
Note. Native to the Himalaya and not found in South India, the specimen drawn was from Darjeeling, probably supplied by Edward Blyth.
20. Nilgiri flowerpecker ("Dicaeum concolor" Jerdon)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Olive flower pecker'.
A version of Plate 39 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), where the species was described.
Note. According to the letterpress the bird is perched on 'pink arbutus', a species 'of Thibaudia' of the Nilgiri Hills, now known as "Vaccinium leschenaultii".
21. Lesser florican ("Sypheotides indicus" Miller)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Black Floriken'.
A version of Plate 33 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iii, 1846), in which it is called "Otis aurita".
22. Velvet-fronted nuthatch ("Sitta frontalis" Swainson)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Small Blue Kingfisher'.
This is not in Jerdon's "Illustrations" and was clearly not produced under the supervision of an ornithologist. It is not a kingfisher and the aquatic background is inappropriate. If it is not an invention on the part of the artist, Aasheesh Pittie and L. Shyamal (pers. comm.) inform me that the only South Indian bird that approaches this colouring is the velvet-fronted nuthatch.
23. Malabar parakeet ("Psittacula columboides" Vigors)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Gungle parrot'.
A version of Plate 18 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part ii, 1845), in which it is called "Palaeornis columboides".
24. Long-billed pipit ("Anthus similis" Jerdon)
Annotated in pencil on the supporting sheet: 'Mountain Titlark'.
A version of Plate 45 of Jerdon's "Illustrations" (part iv, 1847), where the species was described.
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