Printed on the plate
“Kiwi-kiwi”
Apteryx australis
Engraved caption: Apteryx australis
This identification is still open; the reasoning below says what would settle it. If you can, open an issue with the evidence.
Modern identification
Not identified
- Checked against the engraved caption
Why
North Island Brown Kiwi or Southern Brown Kiwi (tokoeka)? The two skins figured were given to the Zoological Society by the New Zealand Company, without locality. The plate's soft brown streaked birds could be either. Where the skins came from would decide: Wellington or New Plymouth means A. mantelli, Nelson or the south A. australis.
Sources
List of Plates (vol. VI); engraved caption on the leaf; Gould's text and synonymy; the plate
Who made the plate
No credit line could be read. Credit lines cut off: the sheet ends in the caption.