Glimpses of Paradise

This book follows the story of the Paradise Parrot, beginning in 1844, when John Gilbert spotted it on the Condamine River in Queensland. Gilbert wrote to his employer John Gould, in London, describing his find as 'without exception the most beautiful of the whole tribe I have ever seen in Australia'. Gould named it the Beautiful Parrakeet. In this highly illustrated book, author Penny Olsen takes us on a journey of discovery-from Gilbert's first observations of the parrot in 1844 to recent claims of sightings and the intrigue surrounding them. The story of the Beautiful Parrakeet combines elements of the history of exploration and settlement of Australia, human exploitation of the rare and unobtainable, a conservation tale, the endless allure of a lost species, and the facts of this singular bird's fate.