Home Topics Wildlife We unearthed these magically illustrated Australian bird eggs

We unearthed these magically illustrated Australian bird eggs

Image credit: State Library of New South Wales.

The eggs of Australian birds are incredibly diverse. Back in the 1860s, oologist Edward Pierson Ramsay, ambitiously sought to record this diversity by producing a book on the oology of Australian birds. Edward enlisted the help of famous natural history artists Harriet and Helena Scott.

Unfortunately, the book was never published as Edward got cold feet after received a letter from John Gould, one of Australia’s most well-known naturalists, stating that he had been working on a similar publication for ten years. Since 1995, these illustrations have been housed at the State Library of New South Wales.

See more: Beautiful bird eggs

Note: Oology is the study of bird eggs. The names listed on the back of each illustration do not match the current scientific names for the birds, and should be enjoyed for their artistic merit only.

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