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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
and migration. The avifauna of Hong Kong includes both palaearctic and oriental species, some of the families repre- sented being those containing the crows, babblers, bulbuls, thrushes, redstarts, flycatchers, minivets, drongos, warblers, starlings, weavers, finches, buntings, swallows, wagtails, cuckoos, kingfishers, owls, eagles, pigeons, rails, gulls, terns, plovers, sandpipers, herons, ducks, and grebes, to mention only those represented by several species.
Reptiles and Amphibians are also well represented in the Colony, especially by snakes, lizards, and frogs. Others include various terrapins and turtles, the Common Indian Toad, and the Chinese Newt. Among the Colony's snakes those most commonly encountered are harmless and death from snake-bite is extremely rare. Excluding certain rear- fanged species harmless to man, the venomous land snakes which occur are the Banded Krait, the Many-banded Krait, Macclelland's Coral Snake, the Indian Cobra, the Hamadryad, and the White-lipped Pit Viper (Bamboo Snake). Of the several sea snakes known to occur in or near the Colony, all are venomous but none of them attack bathers.
Butterflies and Moths. One hundred and seventy-nine species of butterflies, belonging to nine families, have been recorded for the Colony. The number of moths is far greater and no comprehensive list of local species has ever been published. The attractive and predominantly tropical butter- flies known popularly as 'swallow-tails' are conspicuous by a number of species. The magnificent Atlas Moth, with a wing-span from about seven to nine inches, is fairly common. Another very fine insect, also fairly common here, is the Moon Moth; this has a wing-span of about four to six inches, has swallow-tailed wings, and is mostly soft silvery green in colour.
FLORA
It is not possible to make any true distinction between the
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