Walter Lawry Buller. Supplement to the Birds of New Zealand. Illustrations by J.G. Keulemans. London: W.L. Buller, 1905. Vol. 2 of 2.
Seventeen years after the publication of the second edition, several new species of bird had been discovered including stragglers from Australia and elsewhere. Buller decided to issue a two-volume supplement instead of undertaking another costly edition.
In addition to 12 new hand-coloured printed plates, the Supplement contains sections on vanishing bird species and the passing of the forest. Buller was a contradictory figure whose collecting and trading in specimens helped drive some species to extinction. He advocated for the conservation of native birds and the establishment of bird sanctuaries but remained convinced that native flora and fauna were doomed to extinction.
The rufous faced owl depicted here is now considered the North Island subspecies of the extinct laughing owl or whēkau (a close relative of the morepork/ruru).
Walter Lawry Buller. Supplement to the Birds of New Zealand. Illustrations by J.G. Keulemans. London: W.L. Buller, 1905. Vol. 2 of 2.
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