RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r BOOK REVIEWS 139 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIRDS OF HONG KONG. Compiled by Maura Benham. South China Morning Post, 1963. 97 pages. Numerous drawings. HK$5. Miss Benham's book is a worthy successor to Dr. Herklots' Field Note Book and The Birds of Hong Kong, first published in November 1946. That was a book to which many owe a great debt as it enabled them to start or continue in Hong Kong that most fascinating pursuit which gives increasing pleasure as one's knowledge grows. Before that date, it was extremely difficult to identify Hong Kong birds as the only really good book available was La Touche's Birds of East China, which described in minute detail the plumage of over 700 species but did not indicate which of the species occurred in Hong Kong and did not give a clear idea of what the various species looked like in the field. Dr. Herklots' book gave field descriptions of Hong Kong birds for the first time. It is, however, now out of print and also rather out of date in that it is based on observations ending in 1948, since when not only have a large number of new species been recorded but a tremendous development of roads and buildings has taken place. This has led to considerable changes in the distribution of birds within the colony. Miss Benham has wisely restricted the number of species described (98 out of a possible total of about 340) and this makes her book of greater value to the reader for whom it is intended — the visitor or newcomer to Hong Kong and the beginner of all ages. It cannot have been easy to decide which species to leave out, and the author has obviously taken into account the fact that visitors or newcomers from Europe will probably have a copy of the now famous Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe, which includes many of the birds, such as the Waders, which occur on passage in Hong Kong. All the birds which a newcomer or beginner is likely to see or hear are, however, included except for the rather surprising omission of the Indian Cuckoo. The descriptions of the ninety-eight species are clear and concise field descriptions, and, in giving the length of a bird (from tip of bill to tip of tail), mention is made of the length of the ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1964 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qz20zx09r 140 BOOK REVIEWS bill, a useful bit of information often omitted in bird books. Also included are brief sections on Habits (again often omitted in bird books), Voice (if heard in Hong Kong), Habitat, World Range, and Records for Hong Kong (where, when and how frequently seen). A lecture given by Major Macfarlane in 1960 to the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society is reproduced. This shows the distinctive features of Hong Kong as seen by the bird watcher, such as its wide range of habitats within a small area and the fact that being on the northern limit of the tropics it is in a zone where northern birds and tropical birds overlap to some extent. It is also on a migration route and in spring or autumn one may see many species on their way to or from their breeding grounds in the Arctic. The illustrations in black and white by Commander A. M. Hughes are excellent and there is also a useful map at the end showing most of the places mentioned in the book. It is clearly printed on good paper and will fit easily into the pocket. Another very useful feature is a chapter on bird-watching areas by J. L. Cranmer-Byng. It is easy in Hong Kong to walk in the country for some hours and see hardly any birds. One must know where to look and in describing the best areas Mr. Cranmer-Byng makes clear the threat now faced by the ever "encroaching tide of human activities" which has already driven many birds out of places where they were abundant in Dr. Herklots' time. It is suggested that eventually Hong Kong will need to establish a Nature Reserve. Surely the need is for a Nature Reserve now. In a few years' time it may not be possible to find a large enough area which would be suitable. It has been a pleasure to review this excellent little book on which Miss Benham, her collaborators and her publishers are to be congratulated. If you already know something about birds in another part of the world it will enable you to get to know the rich variety of birds to be found in Hong Kong. If you know little about birds but would like to know more it will almost certainly entangle you irretrievably in an absorbing hobby which will give lifelong pleasure. A. ST. G. WALTON. Page 165 Page 166 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1967 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/0c488p70g 138 SALT MANUFACTURE IN HONG KONG S. Y. LIN Editor's Note. This article, which is of considerable ethnographic and nearly thirty years after-historical interest, first appeared in the pre-war publication The Hong Kong Naturalist (1930-41), Volume X, No. 1, January 1940. The editor of this interesting series, Dr. G. A. C. Herklots, Reader in Biology at the University of Hong Kong 1928-45 and Principal and Director of Research at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad 1953-60, has kindly given permission to reproduce it here. It is hoped that the article will be of interest to present-day residents of Hong Kong as well as providing for scholars a record of salt-production on the South China coast by both the leaching (percolation) and solar (evaporation) processes, now practically defunct in Tai O where the salt pans have been almost deserted for several years past. The author, Dr. Shu-yen Lin, who is now with the Fisheries Division, Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction Taipei, Taiwan (Formosa) has also expressed his agreement to the article being reproduced. I have added a few notes which, it is hoped, will be of some interest and may encourage others to take up this interesting subject in more detail. In three places only is salt prepared from sea-water in the Colony namely at Tai O, a fishing village on Lantau island, Sha-taukok on the frontier in Starling Inlet and San Hui in Castle Peak Bay. Of these the first is the most important. The salt marsh at Tai O, which occupies an area of about 70 acres and is enclosed by high dykes to prevent flooding at high tide or by storms, is owned by three companies, two of which are slightly bigger than the third. The annual production in 1938 amounted to about 25,000 piculs (1,488 tons) valued at about $27,500. A small portion is consumed locally, chiefly by the fishermen in the salting of fish, and all the rest is exported. The companies lease the salines from Government and sub-let to individual salt-makers or hire them on a piece-wage basis in the form of shares in the profits. In the former case each salt-farmer leases a small saline of about 1/10 acre from the company, paying a rental of $2.00 per month, and endeavours to produce as much salt as possible from this limited area of land. The salt produced, however, must be sold to the company from which the saline has been leased. The company should be able to pay the farmer at a fixed price (50 cents per picul for 1938-1939), immediately on receiving the salt. On the average, ================================================================================