Chrysuronia chrysura
金尾蜂鸟属
Chrysuronia chrysura
Golden-tail
About this plate
Peru
With the exception of a single specimen from Brazil, all the examples of this species in my collection are from Peru.
I mention this because Lesson, in the Supplement to his ‘Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux Mouches’ above referred to, gives Brazil as its sole habitat. In all probability the bird inhabits the same degree of latitude in both countries. I do not, however, believe that it ever flies so far west as to come within the colonized portions of Brazil. In the vast trackless forests and savannahs which occur towards the eastern confines of that country, there doubtless exist many species of birds and quadrupeds common to this and the adjacent countries of Peru and Bolivia, and among them probably the present species, which may, perhaps, account for a solitary specimen of it now and then reaching us by way of Rio de Janeiro. It was from that city, through the kindness and liberality of Thomas Reeves, Esq., that my Brazilian specimen was received.
The Chrysurona chrysura is not characterized by any great brilliancy of colouring; in fact, with the exception of its luminous golden tail, the entire plumage is of a very sombre cast, not easy to depict.
My own Plate gives a tolerably accurate representation of the bird: that of Lesson, I regret to say, is not a good one, and very apt to lead us astray as to the identification of the species.
The sexes offer but little difference in their colouring, but I believe the female may at all times be known by the obscure tipping of grey on the two outer tail-feathers.
Head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail-coverts of a golden hue, inclining to brown on the head; wings purplish brown; tail of a very rich golden lustre both above and beneath; chin buff; under surface grey, washed with a golden hue, which is richest on the flanks; vent and thighs white; under tail-coverts grey, with a slight golden lustre; the bill appears to have been fleshy red at the base of both mandibles and dark at the tip.
The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. The plant is the Dremys Winteri.
References
- Ornismya chrysura, Less. Hist. Nat. des Ois.-Mou., Supp. p. 107. pl. 4.—Ib. Ind. Gen. et Syn. des Ois. du Gen. Trochilus, p. xl.
- Chrysuronia chrysura, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 75, Chrysuronia, sp. 2.—Reichenb. Auf. der Col., p. 9.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 254.
- Polytmus chrysura, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 109, Polytmus, sp. 81.
Twelve ways of seeing
- upright 1.30 : 1
- published 1861
- Pl. 329, Vol. V
Not a catalogue entry but a way of looking: how to stand, what to notice, how the line was cut, when it flowers, where it came from, who made it — and then the poems and the classics that taught China to see the same flower. Read the twelve in order and the plate opens.
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First Look
竖划三寸，当千仞之高；横墨数尺，体百里之迥。
—— 南朝宋·宗炳《画山水序》
A vertical stroke of three inches stands for a cliff of a thousand fathoms; a few feet of ink holds a hundred li.
The sheet is vertical: the eye climbs and settles on the bird. Take the posture before the plumage. Then step in close: watch where colour meets line, and whether the line ever breaks. Third, find the darkest small patch: the whole tonal order is measured from there.
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Name and Thing
The binomial is Chrysuronia chrysura: the first word is the genus it belongs among, the second the epithet that sets it apart. Two words carry a whole provenance. The Chinese name 金尾蜂鸟属 is a modern rendering of the Latin, not an old garden name.
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Form and Colour
The smallest of birds: a needle-fine bill, a forked tubular tongue, wings beating so fast the bird hovers and even flies backwards. Its colour is not pigment but structure — light bent by feather barbules, changing with the angle.No colour group is recorded. Three things fix the habit: leaf arrangement, tepal count, and how the flower is borne.
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Composition
Tall and narrow, the bird perched mid-branch with generous margins above and below. (about 1.30 : 1) No details are appended: a plate for looking, not for keying out. Old plates set the plant slightly off centre, with unequal margins — that small imbalance is what keeps it alive.
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Line and Colour
In the later nineteenth century chromolithography took over: colour printed rather than painted, line demoted. Decide first whether it was printed or painted; only then discuss whether it is beautiful.
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Season
In tropical America they are present all year, their season set by flowers; temperate hummingbirds follow the bloom north and back, thousands of kilometres a year. The year 1861 on the plate is that of publication, not of flowering — the gathering came a year or two earlier. Note the season. Phenology is the most practical tool of appreciation.
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Provenance
Americas only, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, richest in the Andes. China has no hummingbirds and no classical record of them; the name arrives with late-Qing travel writing. The localities on the plate are those of a century ago; plants travel and places change their names.
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The Book and the Hand
“Gould's Hummingbirds” was drawn by John Gould and published 1849-1887. This plate is Pl. 329, Vol. V, book page 329. The image is public domain; the hand-colouring is still one person's hand.
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Poetic Resonance
夫列子御风而行，泠然善也，旬有五日而后反。
—— 《庄子·逍遥游》
Liezi rode the wind and came back after fifteen days, so light was his going.
The poem gives the mood first and the picture supplies the form; set the line beside the plate and the bird itself becomes its resting point.
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The Written Tradition
论画以形似，见与儿童邻。
—— 宋·苏轼《书鄢陵王主簿所画折枝》
To judge a painting by likeness alone is the view of a child.
Gould's Hummingbirds (1849–1887) used hand-coloured lithography over gold leaf so the iridescence survived on paper — a monument to Victorian printing and collecting alike. Keep the line; it will surface the next time you meet the same plant.
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Symbolism
For the Aztecs the hummingbird was warrior and sun; for Victorian Europe it was the ultimate ornament, millions killed for breast jewellery. China has no tradition here — and that blank is itself a history of exchange. In a flora it is a species first and a symbol second; the order is worth keeping.
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What to Take Away
Appreciation is not knowledge but habit — one more look each time. The flower of that year is dust, yet its image on paper has outlived every living cousin.
