Edward Lear as a serious artist

Most people who recognize the name "Edward Lear" remember him as the author of "nonsense verse," which he illustrated with line drawings.  I remember this verse and illustration from my childhood:

Lear was, however, a skilled artist, as the parrot at the top demonstrates.

“Although he is best remembered today as a whimsical nonsense poet, adventurous traveler, and painter of luminous landscapes,” Peck writes, “Edward Lear is revered in scientific circles as one of the greatest natural history painters of all time. During his relatively brief immersion in the world of science, he created a spectacular monograph on parrots and a body of other work that continues to inform, delight, and astonish us with its remarkable blend of scientific rigor and artistic finesse.”