黑眉辉蜂鸟
Heliodoxa xanthogonys
Heliodoxa xanthogonys
Guiana Brilliant
- 中文名
- 黑眉辉蜂鸟
- 学名
- Heliodoxa xanthogonys
- 合集
- 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
- 绘者
- John Gould(约翰·古尔德)
- 年代
- 1887
- 图版号
- Pl. 375, Suppl. Vol.
- 原书页码
- p.375
- 授权
- CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)
十观
- 纵幅 1.37∶1
第一眼
江馆清秋,晨起看竹,烟光日影露气,皆浮动于疏枝密叶之间。
—— 清·郑板桥《题画竹》
郑板桥说他画竹,是先看见“烟光日影露气”在枝叶间浮动,才动手。看画时找这一层空气,比记住花的名字更要紧。这一幅是竖的:眼睛从下往上走,落点在中段那只鸟身上。先别急着看羽毛,让姿态先立起来。第二步凑近一寸:看线与色的交界,色有没有压住线,线有没有断。第三步,把视线放到最深的那一小块:整幅的用色秩序,都是从那里排开的。
名与实
学名 Heliodoxa xanthogonys:前一词是属,管它归在哪一类;后一词是种加词,管它在这一类里凭什么与众不同。一百多年前的命名者,把一种植物的来历压进了两个词。中文名“黑眉辉蜂鸟”是后人据学名回译的通行叫法,与古书里的旧名未必对得上——名与物之间,总隔着一层翻译。
形与色
翼小而振频极高,能悬停、能倒飞;羽色非颜料所致,是羽枝结构折射的光,随角度而变。此幅未作色相归档,只能就形制论。看形制不必求全:记住喙形、翼式与栖姿,这一类的骨架就立住了。
构图与呼吸
画幅高而窄,鸟栖在枝的中段,上下留白多——十九世纪鸟谱的标准版式,留给它飞走的余地。全幅只画一只,不作解剖附图——这类图更近于“观赏”,而非“鉴定”。空白不是没画完,是给眼睛留的落脚处:一张图若四边都塞满,花反而会闷。
一刀一色
十九世纪后半叶,石版与彩色石印渐成主流:颜色可以直接印出,不再依赖手工,线条反倒退居其次。图像的“准确”提高了,手性却淡了。先判断它是“印”的还是“画”的,再谈好不好看——这是看老版画最实用的一条规矩。想动笔临它的人记住一句:先铺大块的形与色,干后再收细部;石印的柔和层次来自薄涂与网点,水彩分两三遍淡铺即可逼近。
诗境
夫列子御风而行,泠然善也,旬有五日而后反。
—— 《庄子·逍遥游》
蜂鸟悬停于空,不落不飞,最近于“御风”。庄子说的是一种自由的姿态,蜂鸟把它做成了生理事实。诗以气行,画以形立;两种“看”叠在一起,才是看画的意思。
花语
阿兹特克以蜂鸟为战神与太阳的化身;欧洲维多利亚时代则以蜂鸟为收藏与装饰的极致,百万只羽毛被做成胸饰。中国旧籍无此鸟,故无象征——这空白本身,就是一部博物学交流史。在图谱里,它首先是一个物种,其次才是一种象征——这个次序值得记住。
时与地
温带种类的蜂鸟则随花北迁,一年往返数千公里。仅产美洲,自阿拉斯加南部至火地岛,以安第斯山最为繁盛。中土无蜂鸟,汉籍不载,晚清海外游记始见其名。图上所记的 1887 年是刊行之年,不是采到那只鸟的年份;真正的观察记录通常比出版早一两年。同一株植物,春秋两季像两种东西;同一座山,一百年前与今天叫两个名字。图把这两样都冻结在了纸上。
书与人
《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》只署了约翰·古尔德一个人的名字。版画是集体工程:绘图、刻版、上色各有其人,真正决定这幅图好不好看的,常是没留下名字的刻工与上色师。
带走一双眼睛
下次看鸟,别急着认名:先看它停的姿态,再看羽色在哪一段最深,最后才翻图鉴——顺序一换,看鸟就从“对答案”变成了“看画”。图谱的用意是“以备查考”,看久了却会忘记查考:1887 年的一个人,为一只鸟花了整整一天。
关于本图版
本图选自约翰·古尔德的《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》(Gould's Hummingbirds),原书 1849—1887 年间出版。黑眉辉蜂鸟(Heliodoxa xanthogonys)是本图的主角,在分类体系中列于蜂鸟科(Trochilidae)。
该合集全编共 421 幅图版,此图为其中之一,图版编号 Pl. 375, Suppl. Vol.,对应原书第 375 页,版式为纵幅。图像由公有领域原件扫描修复而来,细节在放大视图中仍清晰可辨。
原书文字(英文 / 法文)
The present species was also one of Mr. Whitely’s discoveries in British Guiana.
He met with it both on the Merumé Mountains and near Roraima at a height of 3500 feet. Messrs. Salvin and Godman state that it is “allied to H. jamesoni from Ecuador, but is smaller, with a less forked tail, and is also distinguished by its orange-coloured mandible.” They observe (l. c.), “Mr. Whitely sends us a male and several females of this species, which is obviously allied to the Ecuadorian H. jamesoni, but at the same time quite specifically distinct. This is the first evidence we have received of the fact of a member of this Andean genus being found in Guiana.”
Mr. Whitely has sent us the following account of his capture of the species on the Merumé Mountains:—
This beautiful bird was obtained in the same locality as Lophornis pavoninus, but, unlike that species, it is of more retiring habits, frequenting the gloomy recesses of the forest, where it suddenly startles one by its rapid flights, and then coming to a stop, throwing the body up vertically within a few yards of one’s face, making a very loud humming with its wings. It then darts off out of sight like a flash, rendering it a most difficult bird to shoot. Only one male was obtained here, and several females; but I was fortunate enough to get two males on my second expedition to Roraima, at an elevation of 5000 feet. Stomach contained remains of insects.
The Plate represents two males and a female, the figures being drawn from specimens lent to us by Messrs. Salvin and Godman.
[R. B. S.]
References
- Heliodoxa xanthogonys, Salvin & Godman, Ibis, 1882, p. 80.—Salvin, Ibis, 1885, p. 433.
- Xanthogenyx salvini, De Hamonville, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, viii. p. 77 (1883).