Walter Buller

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Sir Walter Lawry Buller (October 9, 1838 - July 19, 1906) was a New Zealand lawyer, naturalist and ornithologist. He was the son of man that helped convert the people of Tonga into Methodists.

Buller was the author of A History of the Birds of New Zealand (1872-1873, 2nd ed. 1887-1888), with illustrations by John Gerrard Keulemans. In 1882 he produced the Manual of the Birds of New Zealand as a cheaper, popular alternative. In 1905, he published a two-volume Supplement to the History of the Birds of New Zealand which brought the work up to date.

Buller was born at Newark in the Bay of Islands, the son of a Cornish missionary. He was educated at Wesley College in Auckland. In 1854, he moved to Wellington with his parents, where he was befriended by the naturalist William Swainson. In 1859 he was made Native Commissioner for the Southern Provinces. In 1871 he travelled to England and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. Three years later he returned to Wellington and practiced law.

Buller was a government minister from 1896 to 1899. He emigrated to England and died at Fleet in Hampshire.