Australian king parrot - John Gould - Framed Picture - 12" x 16"

John Gould FRS was a British ornithologist and bird artist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates that he produced with the assistance of his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists including Edward Lear, Henry Constantine Richter, Joseph Wolf and William Matthew Hart.

He has been considered the father of bird study in Australia. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Gould's work is referenced in Charles Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species.

He became an expert in the art of taxidermy, this skill helped him to become the first Curator and Preserver at the museum of the Zoological Society of London

The Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) is endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland through to Port Campbell in Victoria.

The Australian king parrot was first described by the German naturalist Martin Lichtenstein in 1818. The species belongs to the genus Alisterus, whose three members are known as king parrots.