32 THE CONDOR _ ‘Vol. XXII 
ust 19, 1899, a young bird. Bill grayish olive on basal half, tip black; feet orange, the 
joints of toes and tarsi often tinged with dusky, claws dull blackish. 
37. Arenaria melanocephala. Black Turnstone. Common winter resident; ab- 
solutely confined to the sea-coast. Earliest fall records, adults, July 24; young, Septem- 
ber 2. Bill black; feet dull reddish in adult, brighter on soles and back of tarsi; in 
young duller and browner throughout; claws black. 
38. Haematopus bachmani. Black Oystercatcher. Common resident in suitable 
localities on the coast. Iris yellow; eyelids vermilion; bill vermilion, tip paler; feet 
pale whitish flesh color; claws dusky. Downy young, iris brown; bill dark gray, dull 
orange at gape; feet pale gray. 
Okanagan Landing, British Columbia, August 18, 1919. 
EDWARD GARNER, A PIONEER NATURALIST 
By HAROLD C. BRYANT 
LTHOUGH well known only locally, Edward Garner of Quincy, Califor- 
nia, was one of the pioneer naturalists of California and must be num- 
bered among the early ornithologists of the state. He was born in Eng- 
land, near London, in 1846, and came to the United States in 1869, settling at 
Newark, New Jersey. He started for California in 1875, taking in the Centen- 
nial Exposition at Philadelphia but came only as far west as Nevada, where he 
remained for two years, and in which state he cast his first vote as an American 
citizen. In 1877 he moved to Quincey, Plumas County, California, where he 
finally settled. 
Mr. Garner showed an early interest in natural history, especially entomol- 
ogy, and in 1867, while still in England, he secured an old English work on 
taxidermy, by Captain Thomas Brown, entitled ‘‘The Taxidermist’s Manual or 
The Art of Collecting, Preparing and Preserving Objects of Natural History’’ 
(20th ed., A. Fullerton & Co., London, pp. xii+150, 6 pls., 2 figs. in text). 
With this at hand, about 1878, he began mounting specimens of birds and mam- 
mals, devoting only spare time when not engaged in his trade as a painter. 
In 1885 his first collection of mounted specimens of birds was sold to the 
manager of the Plumas House in Quincy, the local hotel, for $200. Some of 
these specimens are still to be seen in a glass case in the hotel. With this money 
Mr. Garner went to San Francisco to take some lessons in taxidermy. Here he 
met the senior Lorquin, a well-known taxidermist. However, Mr. Garner proved 
himself already so proficient in taxidermy that, instead of taking a set of lessons 
he learned Lorquin’s methods simply by watching him while at work. Mr. Gar: 
ner asserts that what was learned at this time was later discarded for his ori- 
ginal methods of procedure. 
On his return to Quincy, Mr. Garner began in earnest to build up his pri- 
vate collection. Most of his specimens were acquired during the nineties and 
consequently now have historical value. In 1915 Plumas County purchased 
almost the whole of the Garner collection of birds and displayed it at the Pana- 
ma-Pacific International Exposition. Since the Exposition, it has been on dis- 
play at the Quincy High School. A few specimens have been donated to Leland 
Stanford Junior University. . 
