Ionolaima Schreibersi
Ionolaima Schreibersi
Schribers’ Humming-bird
About this plate
The forests bordering the Upper Rio Negro and the Napo
The Ionolaima Schreibersi is a native of the central and very remote parts of South America; hence it is a species of considerable rarity, and but seldom seen in collections.
It was for a long time a unique bird in England, the only specimen known being the single one contributed to the Loddigesian Collection by the late Mr. John Natterer of Vienna, who collected it on the upper part of the Rio Negro: the specimens of both sexes in my own collection were procured on the Napo, and these are the only countries from which I have yet seen examples. It certainly does not occur at Quito or at Bogota, but that it ranges rather widely over the countries skirting the eastern dip of the Andes of Ecuador in Peru, is more than probable; still, strange to say, it was not one of the birds sent by Mr. Hauxwell from the Ucayali. Had not my good friend Natterer been so suddenly called from among us, after his return from his eighteen years’ explorations in South America, something would doubtless have been recorded respecting the habits and manners of this fine bird, which was dedicated by his desire to his friend Schreibers, the Director of the Imperial Museum of Natural History at Vienna.
The male has the crown of the head, all the upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts and flanks green; wings purplish-brown; central tail-feathers greenish-blue, remainder dark steel-blue; from the angle of the bill on each side a buff moustache; chin deep black, at the base of which is a patch of lovely purple, succeeded by a band of shining metallic green; centre of the abdomen very dark brown, glossed with green; bill black; feet dark brown.
The female has the upper surface bronzy-green; two outer feathers of the tail on each side dull steel-blue tipped with .grey, the remainder bronze; all the under surface grey, with a crescent of glittering green at the tip of each feather; on the side of the face an indistinct greyish-white moustache.
The Plate represents the sexes of the natural size.
References
- Trochilus Schreibersii, Lodd. MSS., Boure. in Proe. of Zool. Soc., part xv. p. 43.—Ib. Rey. de Zool. 1847, p. 255.
- Calothorax? Schreibersii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 110, Calothorax, sp. 4.
- Thalurania Schrebersi, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 77, Thalurania, sp. 9.
- Ionolaima Schreibersii, Reich. Aufz. der Col., p. 9.
- Campylopterus schreibersi, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.
Twelve ways of seeing
- upright 1.57 : 1
- published 1850
- Pl. 93, Vol. II
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.
-
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.
-
Name and Thing
The binomial is Ionolaima schreibersi: the first word is the genus it belongs among, the second the epithet that sets it apart. Two words carry a whole provenance. No established Chinese name exists, so it is cited by its binomial alone.
-
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.
-
Composition
Tall and narrow, the bird perched mid-branch with generous margins above and below. (about 1.57 : 1) No details are appended: a plate for looking, not for keying out. Blank paper is not unfinished work: it is where the eye rests.
-
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.
-
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 1850 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.
-
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 volume was made in 1849-1887, when most of this knowledge came from living plants under glass.
-
The Book and the Hand
“Gould's Hummingbirds” was drawn by John Gould and published 1849-1887. This plate is Pl. 93, Vol. II, book page 93. The image is public domain; the hand-colouring is still one person's hand.
-
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.
-
The Written Tradition
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. Smallness of scale was never the obstacle.
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.
-
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.
-
What to Take Away
Next time you watch a bird: posture first, then where the plumage is deepest, and only then the field guide. The flower of that year is dust, yet its image on paper has outlived every living cousin.
