Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful ParrakeetThis book follows the story of the Paradise Parrot, beginning in 1844, when John Gilbert spotted it on the Condamine River in Queensland. Gilbert wrote to his employer John Gould, in London, describing his find as a without exception the most beautiful of the whole tribe I have ever seen in Australiaa . Gould named it the Beautiful Parrakeet. In this highly illustrated book, author Penny Olsen takes us on a journey of discoverya from Gilberta s first observations of the parrot in 1844 to recent claims of sightings and the intrigue surrounding them. The story of the Beautiful Parrakeet combines elements of the history of exploration and settlement of Australia, human exploitation of the rare and unobtainable, a conservation tale, the endless allure of a lost species, and the facts of this singular birda s fate. |
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Contents
A sacrifice to their ardour | 11 |
As soberly clad as her mate is gay | 43 |
A Queenslander | 57 |
A desirable addition to our aviaries | 75 |
The whole episode reeks of mystery | 93 |
from parrot nests to tennis courts | 111 |
Search for the beautybird of the Burnett | 137 |
Common terms and phrases
adult male Alec Chisholm antbed anthill parrots Australian Birds Australian Museum Australian Parrots Avicultural aviculturist Barnard Beautiful Parrakeet Birds of Australia breeding Brisbane Burnett Cape York Carl Lumholtz Cayley chapter claimed clutch cm National Library collected collector colour Coomooboolaroo Creek Cyril Henry Harvey Darling Downs Diggles drought Edward Hallstrom eggs expedition extinct female Gayndah Goddard Golden-shouldered Parrot grass Guyatt Henry Harvey Jerrard Hooded Parrot Irby John Gilbert John Gould journal Kiernan Leichhardt letter Library of Australia London Lord Derby Lumholtz male Paradise Parrot Mathews Mattinson McLennan Melbourne moths Mulga Parrot natural history naturalist noted observations ornithological ornithologist pair Paradise Parrakeet Paradise Parrot Paradise Parrot Psephotus Parrot nest Parrot Psephotus pulcherrimus Platycercus plumage Port Essington Psephotus pulcherrimus RAOU recorded reported River Rosella seen shouldered Parrot sightings Sindel skins Souef South Wales south-east Queensland species specimens Station termite termite mounds Wildlife wrote young Zoological
Popular passages
Page 242 - Descriptive Catalogue of the Nests and Eggs of Birds found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania
Bibliographic information
| Title | Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet |
| Author | Penny Olsen |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | National Library Australia, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0642276528, 9780642276520 |
| Length | 259 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |