Dusky grebe or black and white dobchick (dabchick) shown standing in marshy land.. Tachybaptus ruficollis (Podiceps nigricans). Edward Donovan (1768-1837) was an Anglo-Irish amateur zoologist, writer, artist and engraver. He wrote and illustrated a series of volumes on birds, fish, shells and insects, opened his own museum of natural history in London, but later he fell on hard times and died penniless.. Handcolored copperplate engraving from Edward Donovan's "The Natural History of British Birds" (1794-1819).