Lot Essay
Most of the birds in the present lot have been painted in great detail, allowing an unambiguous identification of each species, although the Chinese names used in this album are not always consistent with today's Chinese appellations (see the Illustrated Guide to the Bird Species of Guangdong, Guangdong Science Publishing House, 1988).
The bird illustrated at the introduction to this section is entitled 'Hainan Liaoge', with its distinctive yellow marking below the eyes and at the back of the head, and a small area of white feathers at its wings: its English name is the Hill Myna, Gracula religiosa (Hay), which does commonly occur in Hainan, the island off the coast of South China, thus included in the Chinese name.
Opposite page, upper left: the two small birds perched on a flowering branch are named in Chinese as 'Hainan Hege', which may be translated as the Hainan Millet Sparrow.
Middle left: 'Ta shui He', the 'waterstepping crane', from the family of the Gruidae.
Lower left: 'Baixian', the Silver Pheasant, Lophura nycthemera (Linnaeus).
Upper right: 'Fengtou He', the 'phoenix-headed crane'.
Middle right: 'Yeming He', also known as 'Ye Lu', the Black-crowned Night-Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus).
Lower right: 'Wushui He', the 'misty water crane', probably a Bittern.
The bird illustrated above is clearly an owl, but neither the painting nor the Chinese title, 'Maortou Ying', the 'catfaced bird of prey', are helpful in identifying the species.
The album further includes a female Goldpheasant Chrysolophus pictus, the Japanese magpie, the Pale-capped Pigeon Columba punicea, and a large number of songbirds, parrots and others.
The bird illustrated at the introduction to this section is entitled 'Hainan Liaoge', with its distinctive yellow marking below the eyes and at the back of the head, and a small area of white feathers at its wings: its English name is the Hill Myna, Gracula religiosa (Hay), which does commonly occur in Hainan, the island off the coast of South China, thus included in the Chinese name.
Opposite page, upper left: the two small birds perched on a flowering branch are named in Chinese as 'Hainan Hege', which may be translated as the Hainan Millet Sparrow.
Middle left: 'Ta shui He', the 'waterstepping crane', from the family of the Gruidae.
Lower left: 'Baixian', the Silver Pheasant, Lophura nycthemera (Linnaeus).
Upper right: 'Fengtou He', the 'phoenix-headed crane'.
Middle right: 'Yeming He', also known as 'Ye Lu', the Black-crowned Night-Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax (Linnaeus).
Lower right: 'Wushui He', the 'misty water crane', probably a Bittern.
The bird illustrated above is clearly an owl, but neither the painting nor the Chinese title, 'Maortou Ying', the 'catfaced bird of prey', are helpful in identifying the species.
The album further includes a female Goldpheasant Chrysolophus pictus, the Japanese magpie, the Pale-capped Pigeon Columba punicea, and a large number of songbirds, parrots and others.