Watercolours of finches, 1918 / by Neville William Cayley

fonds

1918

Graphic Materials, Watercolours

9627617

2 watercolours

Neville William Cayley (1886–1950), ornithologist and artist, was born in Yamba, NSW on 7 January 1886, son of Neville Henry Penniston Cayley (1854-1903), a bird-artist from Kent. Influenced by his artist father, Neville W. Cayley, went to art school in Sydney and developed a passion for bird illustrations and ornithology early in life. He produced Australia's first comprehensive bird field guide in 1930: What Bird is That? A Guide to the Birds of Australia. Published by Angus & Robertson Sydney, this book remains an important bird reference text to this day. This book was followed by other publications including Australian Finches in Bush and Aviary… (1932), Budgerigars in Bush and Aviary (1933), Australian Parrots… (1938) and The Fairy Wrens of Australia (1949). A final major publication covering all Australia's birds, their habits, nests and eggs was never completed. He died at his Avalon home on 17 March 1950.

Reference:
Australian Dictionary of Biography
http://adb.anu.edu.au (Accessed 19 December 2018)

By descent.

Two unpublished watercolours by Neville William Cayley depicting long-tailed grass finches and diamond firetail finches, birds commonly found along the northern and eastern coastlines of Australia. The drawings feature the distinctive features and colouring of the birds, in a natural composition.

Item 1: Long-tailed grass finches (Poephila Acuticauda), 1918 / by N. W. Cayley
Item 2: [Finches, probaby a diamond firetail], 1918 / by N. W. Cayley

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