Acer palmatum, although there are more than 100 species of maple worldwide, only one species (Acer campestre) is native to the UK.

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Natural history

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"New Holland Creeper", native name "Balgo-nera"
Artist: Port Jackson Painter
Created: [Between 1788 and 1797]
Dimensions: 20.5 x 16.3 cm
Reference: Watling Drawing - no. 177

 
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Bird in profile, facing to the right, perched on a branch against a plain background. The bird's head, back and wing are predominantly black, with a yellow bar on the wing and white tufts around the face. The bill is black and curved, and the tongue forked. The breast and belly are white with dark grey markings. The drawing is framed by a pencil border and annotated in ink and pencil.

 
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  • Port Jackson Painter]
  • The drawing is annotated in ink at bottom "Natural size Native name Balgo-nera, January".
  • The drawing is unsigned and undated.
  • The drawing is inscribed in ik at top right with the number "98.". This refers to the catalogue list compiled by John Latham c. 1801 which was acquired with the drawings, and is filed with them at the end of the Watling Drawings series.
  • The drawing is annotated in pencil at top "New Holland Creeper Sup. 2.161". This has been copied in ink at bottom, "New Holland Creeper Latham Syn Supp 2.p.161.". The page reference is to Latham's Second Supplement to the General Synopsis of Birds (1802).
  • This bird was more recently identified as the White-bearded honeyeater Meliornis novaehollandiae in Hindwood K. A. (1970).
  • The drawing is annotated in pencil at top "Lambert Drawing II. 64". This refers to a related set of drawings from the collections of the 13th Earl of Derby, held in the Library at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire.
  • The author of this catalogue record is Suzanne Stenning.
  • By permission of the trustees of the Natural History Museum (London)
  • Two sets of transparencies held in the Natural History Museum (London) Zoology Library and Picture Library: Picture Library reference number 12177
  • James Lee of Kensington : purchased ; 1902
  • Data sheet available
  • Latham, John. Supplement II to the General Synopsis of Birds. London: Leigh, Sotheby, 1802.
  • Hindwood K. A. 'The "Watling" drawings with incidental notes on the "Lambert" and the "Latham" drawings', Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales for the years 1968-69 (1970).