Thaumatias nitidifrons
Thaumatias nitidifrons
Brilliant-fronted Emerald
- 学名
- Thaumatias nitidifrons
- 合集
- 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
- 绘者
- John Gould（约翰·古尔德）
- 年代
- 1861
- 图版号
- Pl. 297, Vol. V
- 原书页码
- p.297
- 授权
- CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)
十观
- 纵幅 1.62∶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 Thaumatias nitidifrons：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。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
蜂鸟为美洲最小之鸟，喙细长如针，舌分叉成管，可伸入花心吸蜜；翼小而振频极高，能悬停、能倒飞。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
穿花蛱蝶深深见，点水蜻蜓款款飞。
—— 唐·杜甫《曲江二首》
中土无蜂鸟，然“穿花”之态，杜甫早已写过：贴着花心走，是采蜜者的共同姿态。把这一句放回画面：画面就是诗句的落点——诗先写气，画后写形，两者在此处接上了。
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。花语是后人添上去的，花本身并不知道；但这层“不知道”，正是它最动人的地方。
时与地
热带美洲几乎全年可见，花期即其季节。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 1861 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。图上的产地常是“据说来自”，图上的花期常是“盛开那十日”——两处都要打个折扣读。
书与人
《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》只署了约翰·古尔德一个人的名字。从画稿到成图要过好几双手：转刻的人求准，上色的人求快——快与准之间，就是各幅之间深浅不一的来历。
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”。1861 年的那只鸟早已化作尘土，它留在纸上的样子，却比任何一只活着的同类都长寿。
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。画面主体为 Thaumatias nitidifrons，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. 297, Vol. V，对应原书第 297 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）
Unknown: supposed to be Venezuela
Of the genus Thaumatias there are four birds which to the eye of the unpractised observer would appear to be one and the same, but which any person conversant with the Humming-Birds would at once pronounce to be distinct species.
The birds to which I allude are Thaumatias brevirostris, T. affinis, T. Milleri, and T. nitidifrons. It is the differences which distinguish the latter bird that I have now to point out.
All four of the birds are very similar in size and in the colouring of their tails; but the T. brevirostris and T. affinis are destitute of any brilliant colouring on the crown; on the other hand, the T. Milleri has a glittering crown and a white breast; while the T. nitidifrons differs in having both a brilliant crown and a brilliant breast—a union of characters which at once distinguishes it from its near allies.
The following is the description of this species, and the accompanying remark, which I published in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ and which it will be as well to reprint, notwithstanding the repetition of what I have already said, in some parts of the concluding sentence.
Of its habitat nothing is at present known.
Crown of the head, face, chest, and breast glittering green; abdomen and flanks golden green; back, shoulders, and rump bronzy-green; tail pale bronzy greyish-green, with a zone of purplish-brown crossing the four lateral feathers on each side near their tips; under tail-coverts grey, with a patch of bronzy-green in the centre of each; tarsi greyish-brown; upper mandible black; under mandible yellow, black at the tip.
Remark.—Nearly allied to the T. brevirostris and T. Milleri, but differing from both in the glittering green of the face and crown, and in the centre of the breast being covered with the same shining colour. The specimen described was presented to me by G. N. Lawrence, Esq., when I visited New York in 1858.
The plate represents a specimen which appears to be a male of the size of life. The plant is the Tacsoma sanguinea.
References
- Thaumatias mtidifrons, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxviii. p. 308.
