254
NATURAL HISTORY
and countless kinds of smaller ferns, including maidenhair and the local Royal ferns. On hillsides, English bracken, a cosmopolitan plant, may be seen growing together with the so-called Hong Kong Bracken, a gleichenia, and a fragrant-leaved myrtle called baeckea. Plants recorded for the first time the past year were Gomphrena celosioides and Ambrosia maritima, found in Kowloon, and Andro- graphis paniculata and Cerastium triviale, found on Lantau Island. The Colonial Herbarium, which provided the foundation for the work of Dunn and Tutcher's Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong, has been added to considerably since that book was produced and at present over 29,000 specimens are preserved. Interest in local fauna and flora is fostered by The Hong Kong Natural History Society-founded in 1949 as The Hong Kong Biological Circle- whose aims are to ‘. . . . facilitate and encourage the study of natural history in general and in particular that of the Colony of Hong Kong.' The activities of this society include both indoor meetings and field outings. Another society is the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, founded in 1957 for the study of local bird life. This society holds approximately twelve field outings each year.
The Wild Birds and Wild Mammals Protection Ordinance, 1954, provides for the conservation of all wild birds and various mammals now rare or in danger of becoming rare. It also prohibits the trapping or poisoning of any bird or mammal, except rodents. Game birds may be shot only in season. There are eight wild life sanctuaries, one of which is the whole of Hong Kong Island. Both Game Wardens and Honorary Game Wardens are appointed by the Governor to assist in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance. By regula- tions made under the Forestry Ordinance special protection is also given to certain plants including camellias, enkianthus, magnolias, orchids, and azaleas.