CHESTNUT QUILLED ROCK PIGEON

Distribution: NT. Restricted to western escarpment of Arnehem Land. First described by Collett P.Z.S. 1898. Keulemans was the most sought-after bird artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a prolific and talented work-oriented illustrator. This image is from the last great bird series, The Birds of Australia by G.Matthew&#8217s and is rarer than John Gould&#8217s work on Australian birds, with only 225 sets done. It was the last series produced to use hand colouring rather than colour printed lithography for the illustrations.