[
    {
        "id": 206129,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1970",
        "page_number": 209,
        "title": "RAS-1970",
        "content_text": "202\n\nBOOK REVIEWS\n\nThe second part contains the data on which the theories of the first section were based. Due to financial problems, publication of this section had to be delayed, and it was reduced considerably in size by the co-author, Mr. Guildal. The final result is an extremely painstaking and valuable Checklist of the birds of Hopei Province, including not only the Peitaiho records, but also records from previous literature covering the whole province. The value of this material to ornithologists can be gauged by the fact that no investigation in such detail has been carried out anywhere else on the coast of China. It is regrettable that the avifauna of Hong Kong, the only place where comparable studies could be carried out, is dwindling, and unless stern conservation measures are taken very soon, the obvious possibilities here will have been destroyed for ever. It is a pathetic commentary on the values current in Hong Kong that it should be necessary to say this.\n\nIn one important aspect, the delay in publication of the second part has produced a situation which makes the book difficult to use. Dr. Hemmingsen has based his systematics and nomenclature on Hartert, Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna (1903-23), which is now out of date, and was in fact already out of date when the first part was published. To achieve consistency, the same nomenclature has been used in the second part. As the first part has been reprinted in this volume, it is a great pity that the opportunity of updating this aspect was missed. A further legacy of the same era is the emphasis on subspecific identification; while this can be useful for specimen identification, it is very rarely practicable in the field. To do the author justice, however, he is extremely cautious on field identification, and, unlike many ornithologists, he is always ready to admit where he is uncertain of an identification. I would have preferred to see more field notes, and less attempts to describe callnotes and songs, as the latter are always subjective and therefore less useful to later observers.\n\nThe study of bird migration in this part of the world has advanced considerably in the past few years due to the work of a few groups of enthusiasts, backed by the Migratory Animals Pathological Survey. Over six million birds have been ringed under these schemes, and much information has been gathered",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 206690,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1972",
        "page_number": 238,
        "title": "RAS-1972",
        "content_text": "232\n\n \nBOOK REVIEWS\n\n \nSo much for the contents; the background is in many ways even more interesting. As Korea is a peninsula, it is a natural junction of migration routes from the North. Some species cross the north of the peninsula to continue down the coast of China, and these are rare in the Republic of Korea. Others pass through Korea, and then go either south-east to Japan and the Ryukyus, or south-west to rejoin the coast of China lower down. This has been the subject of many years of study by Professor Won, who ringed over 185,000 birds in seven years between 1964 and 1970. Migration in Asia is still comparatively little known, although an intensive programme run by the U.S. Government Migratory Animals Pathological Survey over this period, involving the ringing of several million birds in many countries in Asia, has begun to scratch the surface of our vast ignorance of this subject.\n\n \nThe conservation of wildlife is in most parts of Asia merely a pipedream for the future; though National Parks are being established in a few countries, and in a few isolated instances, particularly in Japan, special attention has been paid to the preservation of endangered species of birds, such as the Japanese Crested Ibis. The Republic of Korea shows an utter disregard for the welfare of the 'commoner' birds, to the extent that very few can be seen near the cities, and those in the remoter agricultural areas are more and more affected by pesticides. On the other hand, fifteen species are designated as National Treasures, and are protected at all times, and a number of areas are designated as nature reserves. The authors express the hope \"that in future the law will not be flaunted to the point where a mounted specimen of a 'National Treasure' may be seen openly for sale in a shop in the centre of Seoul!”\n\n \nTheir hope was fulfilled rather sooner than they might have wished. In April 1971, a nest of the Oriental White Stork was discovered for the first time for at least ten years; this is a species, or subspecies, in grave danger of extinction. Four days after the nest was found, the male was shot a mile and a half away. The offender was caught, and prosecuted, and subsequently given six months in jail for the offence.\n\n \nWith this kind of encouragement, and with the help of Gore and Won's book, let us hope that the future of Korean ornithology will be brighter than the past. This book was, I know, a costly venture, and the enterprise of the two authors and of its publishers, the",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h",
        "rank": 0
    }
]