“An artist's impression is the representation of an object or a scene created by an artist, when no other accurate representation is available”, says Wikipedia's rather good definition, “[and can take the form] of an image, a sound, a video or a model”. We still rely on the scientifically guided imagination of artists to inspire us with scenes from prehistory, or to show us the view from distant moons. But in centuries past, people also acquired notions about animals from far‐away lands via the artist's pencil and brush, or from specimens mounted by taxidermists. Unfortunately, these skilled people had often never seen, or at least not seen alive, the creatures their work was commissioned to portray, and by the definition above they necessarily produced artists’ impressions. They could, however, make use of travelers’ written descriptions to guide their hands, and sometimes that worked out fine. But if those descriptions were not so hot, all kinds of things could go wrong. Just ask a white bellbird.

About the size of a pigeon, the white bellbird (Procnias albus ) inhabits the forests of northeastern South America. The males have three special features: they are bright white, they have a long extendible wattle that hangs like a feather‐flecked leech from their forehead, and they are the world's loudest birds. They can deliver shrill, metallic blasts at a staggering 125 decibels (dB)! And when wishing to be seen as well as heard, they fling their dangling wattle – which by becoming engorged with blood can grow from its normal 1.5 inches or so to several inches long – over their bill (https://bit.ly/3dDZUZv). But the artists and taxidermists of the 19th century commonly portrayed this appendage not as some floppy instrument, but as a hard structure sticking upward like a unicorn's horn. And who could blame them when that erroneous erection was described by Charles Waterton!

Waterton, who traveled the white bellbird's range in the early 19th century, was perhaps the closest thing a naturalist can become to a rock star. So popular was his Wanderings in South America , first published in 1825, that he received several offers of marriage from doting female fans, and counted the young Charles Darwin among those he inspired. And what Waterton said, often went (and for so long!), even when he was wrong. The 1891 edition of Wanderings (London, UK: Cassell & Company Ltd), for example, still carried this fanciful description of the white bellbird: On his forehead rises a spiral tube nearly three inches long. It is jet‐black, dotted all over with small white feathers. It has a communication with the palate, and when filled with air, looks like a spire; when empty, it becomes pendulous . Spiral? Connected to the palate? Inflated with air? None are true; nor does the wattle ever shoot skyward from the bird's head. Waterton's description, however, was repeated time and again in popular works of the 1830s, and even by an older Charles Darwin in his 1871 The Descent of Man .

And that non‐existent spire became the century's stock‐in‐trade for many an artist and taxidermist. For example, in the November 21, 1835, edition of Saturday Magazine , an article quoting Waterton's description is graced by an artist's impression of the bird looking like some brooding rhino‐dove. Stuffed versions of the creature commonly fared little better, ending up looking like a feathered narwhal. The Fairbanks Museum (St Johnsbury, VT) has a beautiful example (https://bit.ly/37332f2). Prepared by renowned 19th‐century taxidermist William Everard Balch (1854–1919), the bird is displayed with an impressive horn. The museum explains that Balch had no idea what the bird looked like in the wild, but it seems very possible that his impression was based on Waterton's description. Similarly displayed unicorn birds can be found elsewhere: for example at La Specola Museum in Florence (Italy) (Figure 1), or the Natural History Museum of Geneva (Switzerland), although at least one Victorian taxidermist rendered the horn swept backward (https://bit.ly/2Y0dtMi) as it curiously appears in a plate in Wanderings (at least in my 1891 copy) despite Waterton's “spire” imagery.

Waterton's descriptions were, however, not always very watertight. One has the impression that he sometimes “filled in” certain details (see Front Ecol Environ 2015; 13 : 456). But soon after the 1891 edition of Wanderings came out, the fabulously named Timehri, Being the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana published an “occasional note” (1892, vol VI, note 165) that put things straight. “A good deal of misconception prevails as to the position of the caruncle in the bellbird”, pronounced JJ Quelch, who observed captured specimens while presumably enduring their 125 dB blasts for science. “The erect position, in fact, is an impossible one, since the organ is made up of very fine elastic tissue.”

And so the bellbird lost its horn, although its extendible dangling wattle is no less bizarre! Does it not make you wonder what we'll really see from those distant moons?

Adrian Burton

Wikipedia相当不错的定义说：“艺术家的印象是由艺术家创建的对象或场景的表示，而没有其他准确的表示可用”，“ [并且可以采用]图像，声音，视频的形式。或模型”。我们仍然依靠艺术家的科学指导想象力，以史前的场景启发我们，或者向我们展示遥远的卫星的景色。但是在过去的几个世纪中，人们还通过画家的铅笔和画笔，或者从动物标本制作师的标本中获得了有关远处土地上动物的观念。不幸的是，这些熟练的人常常从未见过，或者至少没有见过活着，他们的作品被委托来描绘，而根据上面的定义，他们必然产生了艺术家的印象。但是，他们可以 利用旅行者的书面描述来引导他们的双手，有时效果很好。但是，如果这些描述不是那么热门，那么各种事情都可能出错。只是问一个白色的铃铛鸟。

大约一只鸽子的大小，白色的钟形鸟（Procnias albus）栖息在南美东北部的森林中。雄性有三个特殊特征：它们是亮白色的，有长而长的篱笆，它们的额头上像羽毛斑点的水hang一样悬挂着，它们是世界上声音最大的鸟。它们可以以惊人的125分贝（dB）发出刺耳的金属爆炸声！而且，当他们希望被人们看到和听到时，他们挥舞着垂垂的荆棘-通过充满血液可以使它们从正常的1.5英寸左右长到几英寸长-超出他们的账单（https://bit.ly/3dDZUZv ）。但是19世纪的艺术家和动物标本剥制者通常把这种附属物描绘成不是松软的乐器，而是像独角兽的角一样向上伸出的坚硬结构。查尔斯·沃特顿（Charles Waterton）描述了这种错误的勃起时，谁能责怪他们！

沃特顿（Waterton）在19世纪初曾走过白铃鸟的范围，也许是博物学家对摇滚明星的最接近的发现。如此受欢迎的是他于1825年首次出版的《在南美的流浪》，以至于他受到了溺爱女歌迷的几份求婚邀请，并且将年轻的查尔斯·达尔文（Charles Darwin）纳入其中。沃特顿说的话，即使他错了，也经常会（持续这么长时间！）。例如，1891年版的《流浪者》（英国伦敦：Cassell＆Company Ltd）仍然带有对白色铃铛鸟的幻想：在他的额头上升起了一个近三英寸长的螺旋管。它是黑色的，到处都是白色的小羽毛。它与上late有连通，充满空气时看起来像尖顶。空的时候，就变得下摆了。螺旋？连接到上?？充气了吗？没有一个是真的；荆棘也从未从鸟的头朝天射击。然而，沃特顿（Waterton）的描述在1830年代的流行作品中一次又一次地重复，甚至更老的查尔斯·达尔文（Charles Darwin）在1871年的《人的后裔》中也是如此。

那个不存在的尖顶成为许多艺术家和动物标本匠的本世纪交易存货。例如，在1835年11月21日的《周刊》杂志中，引用沃特顿描述的文章被艺术家对这只鸟的印象加深，这只鸟看起来像是一只孵化的犀牛鸽子。该生物的填充版本通常表现得更好，最终看起来像羽毛的独角鲸。费尔班克斯博物馆（佛蒙特州圣约翰斯伯里）有一个漂亮的例子（https://bit.ly/37332f2）。由著名的19世纪动物标本学家威廉·埃弗拉德·巴尔奇（William Everard Balch，1854–1919）制作，这只鸟的喇叭角令人印象深刻。博物馆解释说，巴尔奇根本不知道这只鸟在野外是什么样，但是他的印象很有可能是基于沃特顿的描述。在其他地方也可以找到类似展示的独角兽鸟：例如，在意大利佛罗伦萨的La Specola博物馆（图1）或日内瓦自然历史博物馆（瑞士），尽管沃特顿（Waterton）具有“尖顶”的意象，但仍然徘徊（至少在我的1891年副本中）。

但是，沃特顿的描述并不总是很防水。人们的印象是，他有时会“填写”某些细节（参见Front Ecol Environ 2015；13：456）。但是，在1891年版《流浪者》问世后不久，神话般的名字叫《Timehri》，成为《英属圭亚那皇家农业和商业协会杂志》出版了一份“临时说明”（1892年，第六卷，注释165），使事情变得直截了当。JJ Quelch说：“关于钟形鸟在钟形鸟中的位置，存在很多误解。” JJ Quelch观察了捕获的标本，同时推测他们在科学实验中承受着125 dB的爆炸。“实际上，直立姿势是不可能的，因为器官是由非常细的弹性组织组成的。”

因此，尽管它的可扩展的垂垂的垂体也同样离奇，但它却失去了号角！难道您不知道我们从那些遥远的卫星上将会看到什么吗？

阿德里安·伯顿（Adrian Burton）