The publication of a new study of the flora or fauna of the Hawaiian Islands is an important event, and this collection of photographs and essays of the Hawaiian hawk, Buteo solitarius, qualifies for that distinction. W.S. Chillingworth's photographs, evidence of his deep reverence for the bird, are both transcendent as images, and a valuable contribution to the study of this rare native. The photographs remind us of our kinship with wild creatures, many of them clinging to an increasingly precarious existence. Together with essays by John L. Culliney and Nathan Napoka, the photographs give an illuminating sense of this wild creature in its island refuge. Despite the inevitable encroachment of the modern world, the Hawaiian hawk has until now managed to survive, a reminder of a not-so-distant past of chiefly kingdoms and isolated volcanic archipelagoes. Mindful of Hawai'i's unfortunate distinction as the extinction capital of the avian world, this book encouranges and inspires us to protect and ensure this singular creature's survival--
