Story: European discovery of plants and animals
This hand-coloured engraving of a tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) was the first published illustration of a New Zealand bird. It appeared in Peter Brown’s New illustrations of zoology (1776). Labelled ‘The New Zealand Creeper’, it was based on a stuffed specimen collected on James Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand (1768–71). The butterfly is not a New Zealand species.
About this item
© Trustees of the British Museum.
Permission of the British Museum must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
