Birds of the Hawaiian Islands

Noted ornithologist and anthropologist Henry Henshaw wrote this highly useful reference during a ten year sabbatical in the Hawaiian Islands. Out of print for decades, the few remaining copies of this scarce work are seldom found outside of academic libraries and private collections. This book is a facsimile reprint of the complete original as published in Honolulu in 1902. In this admirable paper Mr. Henshaw has brought together in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, the result of his studies on Hawaiian birds, As a sympathetic and keen observer of Nature, the author is well known, and the present treatise is easily the best work we have on the natural history of the island avifauna. Part I consists of introductory matter, describing Hawaii as an Ornithological Field, Obstacles to Ornithological Studies in Hawaiian Islands, Destruction of Hawaiian Forests, Environmental Changes Disastrous to Hawaiian Birds, Faunal Zones, Diseases of Hawaiian Birds, Origin of Hawaiian Birds, Ornithological Knowledge of Hawaiian Natives, and History of Ornithological Investigations in the Islands, all of which is remarkably interesting reading. Part II is the Descriptive portion. Under each species is given a biographical sketch and a short description... It is probable that few persons in this country have any conception of the difficulties attending the observation of native land birds in the islands. Mr. Henshaw's contribution is therefore so much the more valuable - Walter K. Fisher. - The Condor, 1903