Hypsipetes psaroides (Black bulbul)

This is a lithograph of Hypsipetes psaroides (commonly known as the black bulbul today) from John Gould's folio, A Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains.

In 1830, John Gould received a large collection of birds from the Himalayas. Then the curator of the Zoological Society of London, he catalogued them in this book, which was the first major European publication to detail Himalayan birds. Containing 80 lithographic depictions, it set a new standard for realistic depictions of birds in illustrated ornithological works. The book was largely illustrated by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and the accompanying descriptions were written by Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors. Gould’s ornithological works were known to be of such high quality that he counted Queen Victoria and Prince Albert among his regular subscribers, and Charles Darwin as one of his collaborators. This work enabled him to document more birds in various locations, such as Australia and Europe.