Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) from 'The birds of Australia : and the adjacent islands'

This illustration appears in Elizabeth and John Gould's two volume 'The birds of Australia : and the adjacent islands'. It is commonly called a spotted shag in English, and te reo Maori, pārekareka.

'The birds of Australia : and the adjacent islands' is sometimes referred to as "Gould's suppressed plates" as John Gould stopped the publication, and suggested that they not be bound with 'Birds of Australia'.

For this reason, copies of this work are very rare. This copy was owned by Australian medical practitioner and naturalist, George Bennett (1804-1893). John and Elizabeth Gould stayed with Bennett when they were in Sydney in the two years they created this work and The Birds of Australia.

The lithographs for Gould's work were generally hand-coloured by a group of artists led by Gabriel Bayfield. These artists mostly worked at home, which is one of the reasons there are variations between copies.