Gould could not distinguish between the Northern skua of Europe and the South Polar Skua. it breeds in the Antarctic peninsula and is known to travel as a juvenile into the Northern Hemisphere. Common in Tasmanian waters and New Zealand.
The original letterpress description accompanies this lithograph.
 
Published in The Birds of Australia. 1840-1848.
 
Author. John Gould.
 
Artist. John Gould and Henry Richter.
 
Lithograph. Original hand colour.
 
Paper size. 545 mm x 365 mm.
 
Condition. EXCELLENT.
 
Aquired from the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada.