Printed on the plate
“Great Grey Heron”
Ardea leucophaea
Engraved caption: Ardea leucophaea
Modern identification
Ardea cinerea
- Certain
- Checked against the engraved caption
- Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns · Ardeidae
Why
The figures are Gray Herons: a white neck with a line of black streaks, a black crest stripe, a grey back and a yellow bill, adult and young. Gould compares the bird with the Common Heron and cites Indian skins. Whether his New South Wales skin was truly Australian is the doubt, not the bird.
Sources
List of Plates (vol. VI); engraved caption on the leaf; Gould's text and synonymy; the plate
Who made the plate
J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lithHullmandel & Walton Imp.
- John Gould drew and lithographed
- Henry Constantine Richter drew and lithographed
- Hullmandel & Walton printed
As the credit line gives it. More on who made these plates.
