America's greatest ornithological artist John James Audubon (1785-1851) came from his native Haiti to America in 1803. After an unsuccessful attempt at farming, Audubon turned his attention to collecting specimens of birds and portraying them in his inimitable paintings. After many years, he obtained financing in England for publication of the massive folio edition of The Birds of America, which established him as a major artist. Back in the United States, Audubon followed up the first edition of The Birds of America with his Ornithological Biography, a readable multi-volume companion to the massive plates, discussing the birds and his experiences studying them; the smaller, octavo edition of The Birds of America; and a similar publication on American animals, The Viviporous Quadrupeds of North America.