May, 1906 | 
PAPERS ON PHILIPPINE BIRDS II 
7i 
loons, and heavy tan shoes. Shoes and pants are wet almost daily so I never 
wear socks but change to a dry rig and slippers on returning to the house. Rub- 
ber goods must be let alone unless one enjoys a continuous Turkish bath. The 
outfit should be light and loose whatever else it is. Neither long boots nor leg- 
gings are desirable except where leeches are numerous; even then thick wool 
stockings are the best protection. 
Insect pests are few and not very troublesome. In the dryer districts and 
especially along the coast where the monsoons are felt one is seldom troubled 
with mosquitoes, but in marshy regions or in forests they are a source of danger 
and discomfort from dusk to daylight. Sleep is impossible without a mosquito 
bar. During the day mosquitoes are seldom in sight unless a curtain or hanging 
garment is disturbed when they fly out in a cloud. A small scorpion sometimes 
gets into a shoe or between the blankets and causes some excitement when dis- 
covered. They are not dangerous, their sting being about as painful as that of a 
bee. Probably the large scorpion of Mindanao is more venomous than the small 
species I have seen. In Benguet my native boys were greatly annoyed by fleas 
but I never felt one. 
The most serious pest of the country is a worm. In the damp forests of the 
larger islands the ground is infested with countless leeches. The bite of these 
animals is not painful but it is unpleasant to feel that six to a dozen of them are 
sucking your blood. The wound made by a leech usually heals in a few days but 
it may result in an obstinate sore. Natives say that a leech pulled off the flesh 
leaves a bad sore, but if the leech be invited to move with the warm end of a 
cigar or cigarette the wound heals without trouble. As far as my experience 
goes this theory is correct; at any rate the moral is obvious enough. Leeches 
move along on the damp fallen leaves after the manner of the measuring worms 
(Geometridae) and by means of the sucker at either extremity, attach themselves 
to any animal passing within their reach. The natives claim that the jar of the 
ground or movement of leaves and sticks notifies the leeches of the approaching 
victim. Ordinary cotton socks offer no obstruction whatever to leeches as they 
are able to pass thru the mesh; I have often seen one half-way thru a sock. 
High boots or heavy wool socks are the best protection. 
All birds should be killed in the morning and skinned as soon as possible. 
Aside from the fact that they begin to slough the epidermis on the abdomen within 
a few hours, or even within one hour after death, there is constant danger from 
the everpresent ant. The troublesome species is so small that an unskinned bird 
is often alive with ants before they are noticed. Even after specimens have been 
skinned they are not safe. We use corrosive sublimate solution on bill, legs, and 
bend of wing, and scatter naphthaline crystals in all bird boxes. The latter sub- 
stance is sure death to ants. 
Large skins, and in rainy weather, all skins, dry very slowly. Even in the 
dryest weather I have found it best to put trays of drying skins in the sun for a 
few hours each day to prevent the growth of mould. For some time I had trouble 
with a colored ink which I was using on my rubber dating stamps; a few days in 
the sun and the lettering was faded to illegibility. I now use a black rubber stamp 
ink which is practically indelible. 
Collecting in the afternoon is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, since it necessitates 
night work to save the birds. The short time between sundown and dark and the 
corresponding time in the morning may be utilized to advantage for collecting 
owls and night-hawks. Screech-owls ( Otus) are given to perching on houses and 
