”So many books are published on the avifauna of Australia that one needs a good excuse for adding to the list. I have no difficulty or misgivings in justifying our publications, for they are a means of bringing to the public some of the treasures of the Australian Museum’s National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Established sixteen years ago as a primarily scientific reference, the Index has become a unique collection of the best work of Australia’s most distinguished wildlife photographers and, almost inevitably, its informative content is inextricable from beauty. In deliberate emulation of John Gould who, more than a century ago, based The Birds of Australia upon a collection of elegant lithographs, our books are based upon illustrations of birds that have been captured in action by the camera. The illustrations come first and the text is a digressive commentary aimed at readers who may have no commitment to birds. This is not to say that we eschew detail or accuracy; merely that we put details aside into synopses for consultation by those who require such information. Our “Twentieth-century Gould” is designed as much for dipping into as for reading.”Strahan (1987), p.xi.
