Robert Cyril Layton Perkins and Frederick Frohawk

Sometimes it is important to look back even while we are looking forward. That especially applies to protecting and conserving Hawaii’s flora and fauna.

When considering an eco-system as fragile as that of the Islands, it is crucial to review history to learn where mistakes were made, and how their repetition can be avoided in the future. Thankfully, we have the fine works of naturalists and artists such as Robert Cyril Layton Perkins and Frederick Frohawk to guide us.

Perkins worked tirelessly from 1892 to 1901 collecting specimens and material, which resulted in a masterpiece titled Fauna Hawaiiensis (republished in part by the Bishop Museum Press in a new tome titled Barefoot on Lava). Many of the illustrations for this work were created by Frohawk, whose work was also published in The Birds of Laysan and Aves Hawaiienses: The Birds of the Sandwich Islands.

Frohawk’s incredible illustrations provide a glimpse of numerous beautiful birds that once lived on the Hawaiian Islands. Sadly, many are now extinct due to over- foresting and a terrible malaria outbreak, brought on by mosquitoes introduced from exploring ships.

“The introduction of disease- carrying mosquitoes and transplanted predators had wreaked havoc with many native species, and unfortunately the concern of the late 19th century ornithologists has proven true,” notes Alan Walker, owner of Printsellers in Lahaina, Maui, who sell prints of many of Frohawk’s work.“ Many of Frohawk’s birds are now extinct and others are endangered with tenuous hopes for survival,”  he adds.

Frohawk, who was born at Brisley Hall, East Dereham, Norfolk, England, had a long and succesful career as an illustrator beginning when he was only 20. He was a prolific artist who worked in nearly every media including oils, watercolors, and pencils. What makes his work on Hawaiian avian even more remarkable is the fact that he worked exclusively with skins and preserved specimens—never actually traveling from London to Hawai`i.

Frohawk created 71 plates for the book Aves Hawaiienses of which 64 were hand- colored lithographs. “Carefully detailed, with crisp lines and vivid, accurate colors, these illustrations demonstrate a thorough knowledge of birds and a complete mastery of lithographic technique,” reads the book’s iIntroduction

The authors and British scientist who produced this volume were far-sighted indeed. They were worried that many species that they were studying would be wiped out before they were documented, and in some cases, even before they were discovered. This fear proved correct, unfortunately. But the good news is that their work and Frohawk’s superb illustrations offer a vision of what Creation originally planned for Hawai`i.

If we can appreciate the beauty that Frohawk was able to capture and learn from our mistakes, maybe we can ensure that more species do not become extinct, only to be viewed in photographs for generations to come. Deforestation, waste, plastics that float up on shore, and introduced species all threaten the lives of the birds and other fauna of the Hawaiian Islands. We can make a difference. We only need try.

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Aves Hawaiiensis and a large format book titled Frohawk’s Birds of Hawaii are both out of print, but can be found in used bookstores. Printsellers of Maui offers lithographs of Frohawk’s work that can be purchased at www.printsellers.com or by calling 1-800-669-7843. All illustrations provided by Printsellers.