black X on its back. Like other tree-frogs it can change its colour considerably from pale yellow to almost black. Its frothy spawn is deposited on twigs or grass above water; the tadpoles on hatching fall into the water; they are transparent and very fish-like in appearance. The Narrow-headed Frogs are represented by the Chinese Digging Frog which is brown or pinkish above with a large triangular central brown patch and whitish below; this animal digs into mud or earth with its hind feet and gradually submerges itself backwards. Three very beautifully marked small triangular frogs complete the list.
Marine Biology.
The fauna and flora of the seas around Hong Kong are extremely rich in number and variety of forms. This wealth and diversity of life is due to the geographical position of the Colony at the eastern corner of the large land mass of Eurasia washed by waters which are confluent with the North and South China Seas and with the Pacific Ocean. In the summer the waters are tropical with temperatures for four months exceeding 80°F; in the winter, due to cold currents flowing down the coast of China, the temperature at the surface of the open sea drops to 62°F in January and February. Occasionally, perhaps once in 40 years, the water inshore gets much colder and many fish are killed.
The variation in temperature is one of the causes for the bi-annual migration of fish and other fauna that takes place past Hong Kong. The most important fish, one of the croakers called wong fa, migrates as far south as Hainan and north to Korea and Japan. It is caught off Lantau Island in great numbers in the autumn and winter months. The local belief is that these fish gather there in number to hold parliament and to elect their chief. Another very important local fish is the anchovy, kung yue tsai; this also is seasonal, and the pros- perity of thousands of fisherfolk depends on its periodic invasions of territorial waters.
Many excellent food-fishes occur here including pomfret, shad, herring, groupers, grunts, sea-breams, croakers, thread-fin, mullets, wrasse and soles. On almost any day it is possible to see displayed for sale in the market from fifty to a hundred different fish of different shapes and colours. In the summer, tropical fish are commonly seen from the rafts at the bathing beaches and in rock pools, where they vie with the corals and anemones in their vivid colours.
The shellfish of the Colony are as varied and as good to eat as are the fish. At least fifty varieties of crabs, prawns, shells and squids are available at different times of the year. The crabs include several swimming crabs in greens, reds and blues which are excellent eating; there are two spiny lobsters which would satisfy any epicure and prawns ranging in size
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