In the 1660s, Francis Willughby and his friend John Ray spent several years travelling around Britain and Europe observing, recording and collecting plant and animal specimens in preparation for a series of books on different subjects. This particular book, on birds, was published by Ray in 1676, four years after Willughby’s death. It was a huge undertaking and Ray was determined for it to be full of illustrations so that the birds could be seen in detail. The endeavour almost bankrupted its publisher, the Royal Society.