Spehecotheres flaviventris (Yellow-bellied Fig-bird).

Superb lithograph of the Australasian figbird from the last great bird series that made use of the laborious process of hand colouring of each individual lithograph. This series is rarer than John Gould’s work on Australian birds, with only 225 sets made and many of these are in institutional collections..

From Gregory Matthews, The Birds of Australia. London.

The Australasian figbird has sometimes been split into two separate species, the more northern, yellow figbird (S. flaviventris) and the green or southern figbird (S. vieilloti), but the two intergrade widely where they come into contact, supporting the view that they are part of a single biological species.

Common name: Australasian figbird, green figbird
Modern binomial name: Sphecotheres vieilloti flaviventris
First described: Gould, 1850
Distribution: WA, NT, QLD, NSW, VIC

References:
Anker, J. Bird Books and Bird Art. Amsterdam 1979: 328
Nissen, C. Die illustrierten Vogelbucher. Stuttgart 1995: IVB 605

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2282577
National Museum of Australia: AIA F 598.2994 MAT
State Library Victoria:  RARESF 598.2994 M42