Thalurania Tschudii
Thalurania Tschudii
Tschudi’s Wood-Nymph
- 学名
- Thalurania Tschudii
- 合集
- 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
- 绘者
- John Gould（约翰·古尔德）
- 年代
- 1850
- 图版号
- Pl. 103, Vol. II
- 原书页码
- p.103
- 授权
- CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)
十观
- 纵幅 1.78∶1
第一眼
凡画山水，意在笔先。
—— 唐·王维《山水论》
下笔之前，心里已经有了整幅画。看画时可以反过来推：画家先定了什么，后添了什么。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 Thalurania tschudii：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。名字是通行证，也是懒办法——记住两个词，就抓住了一整个物种。此幅尚无通行中文名，姑以学名相称；在没有本地名字的地方，学名就是它唯一的身份证。
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。画幅高而窄，形与色的关系因此看得格外清楚：先读轮廓，再读色层，最后才看笔触。
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”。老图谱爱把主株摆在偏中线的位置，左右留得不一样多：这一点偏心，正是画面活起来的原因。
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。拿放大镜（或手机微距）看三处：喙缘、覆羽、题名。线若连续不断，是刻的；色若越过轮廓半毫米，是手涂的。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。古人写到这一层，已不只是赏花，是借花说人；画面则只负责把那朵花留住。
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。花语是给人与人的关系用的；植物自己只关心有没有传粉的虫。这两套语言，可以并行不悖。
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 1850 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。看叶的老嫩、花与果是否同在枝上，季节便八九不离十；看题名里藏着的地名，来路也猜得出七分。
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”。二百年后，这只鸟的后代或许仍在某处活着；而纸上这一只，永远停在 1850 年的那个季节。
关于本图版
此图原刊于《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》（Gould's Hummingbirds），绘者为约翰·古尔德，成书于 1849—1887 年间。图中描绘的是 Thalurania Tschudii，归入蜂鸟科（Trochilidae）。
全编共收录 421 幅图版，本图是其中一幅，原书将其列为 Pl. 103, Vol. II，见第 103 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）
Ucayali and the eastern part of Ecuador
The present bird would appear, at a first glance, to be identical either with the Thalurania furcata or T. refulgens; but when compared with those species, it is found to present many differences.
It is a larger and more robust bird, and has broader tail-feathers than the former; but it is smaller than the latter, and differs from both in the colouring of the abdomen, which is prussian-blue, while the same part in T. furcatus is ultramarine-blue, and in T. refulgens violet-blue; from the T. nigrofasciata, to which it is also allied, it differs in the truncate form of its green throat-mark.
I am indebted to the Directors of the Museum of Natural History at Neuchatel for permission to examine all the species of Humming-Birds collected by Dr. Tschudi during his travels in Peru; among these was one of the present bird, which was labelled Trochilus furcatus, a circumstance which informs us that this is the species described by that gentleman in his ‘Fauna Peruana’ under that name; as, however, it is quite distinct from the bird to which the term furcatus had been previously applied, I have been obliged to give it a new appellation, and have selected that of Tschudii, as a just compliment to one who has effected so much in the cause of science.
Mr. Hauxwell sent me fine examples from the Ucayali; it is evident, therefore, that the banks of that river is one of its habitats; in all probability the forests of the inner dip of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes are also inhabited by it. At present I have never seen a female; but this sex will doubtless be coloured like the females of the other members of the genus, particularly the female of T. furcata.
Crown of the head and all the upper surface golden green, inclining to bronzy green on the tail-coverts; throat beautiful green; abdomen prussian-blue; under tail-coverts steel-black, many of the feathers slightly fringed with white; thighs, tarsi, and anal region white; tail steel-black.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is a Passifora, the specific name of which is unknown to me.
References
- Trochilus furcatus, Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, p. 39.
- Thalurania Tschudii, Gould MS., Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 460.—Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxviii. p. 312.
