It was authored by Silvester Diggles of Brisbane and was originally issued in 21 parts, each part containing six plates (126 plates in all) with short descriptive letterpress, in imperial quarto format, with the leaves of the plates 39 cm in height.
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It was described and illustrated (as Ptilonorhynchus rawnsleyi) in the same year by Silvester Diggles in Part 15 of his three-volume work The Ornithology of Australia.