May, 1914 
BIRD NOTES FROM NETARTS BAY, OREGON 
115 
Peck showed each stride to he six inches in length when the bird was running 
fast. 
Aphriza virgata. Surf-bird. On December 31, a cold, stormy day when 
the sleet-laden wind dashed the ocean spray high up on the rocks, we found a 
small flock of these hardy birds near Cape Meares, feeding about on the more 
sheltered rocks in company with a flock of Black Turnstones. The place was 
visited again in March, but no Surf -birds were seen. 
Arenaria melanocephala. Black Turnstone. During September this spe- 
cies was seen several times feeding on the sandy ocean beach to the north. 
During January and March the birds were found only on the rocky beach, 
where a flock of ten or twelve was seen each time the place was visited. 
Haematopus bachmani. Black Oystereatcher. This strange, shy bird 
was seen every time I made my way among the rocks in the vicinity of Cape 
Meares. Pound usually in two’s or three’s, but on January 2, 1 saw a flock of 
a dozen or more. The Oystereatcher feeds on the marine life found growing 
on the rocks and to my knowledge never seeks food in any other place. The 
species was fairly common during May. It is known to breed on Three Arch 
Rocks. 
State Fish and Game Office, Portland, Oregon, February i8, igiy. 
A SADLY NEGLECTED MATTER 
By ALLAN BROOKS 
I N THAT iui.^st of all collector’s manuals, Ridgway’s “Directions for Collect- 
ing Birds”, published in 1891, there occur the following passages in de- 
scribing the *preliminaries to skinning the specimen: 
“No measurements are necessary since all measurements of scientific 
value are best taken from the dried skin. * * * Then if there are any 
noteworthy features as to color of soft parts they should be carefully noted, 
this being a very important matter and one sadly neglected by collectors.” 
How often have I recognized the truth of the last remark when examining 
the labels of birds collected by American ornithologists. In my own collec- 
tion not two per cent other than those taken bj^ myself have any data as to 
color of soft parts. The worst offenders are the ornithologists of California. 
Among several hundred skins, collected by a dozen or more men, mostly well 
known to science, only one has any record of this sort, — a California Wood- 
pecker collected in the early eighties and which bears the simple legend ‘ ‘ eyes 
white ’ ’. 
Specimens taken by European collectors usually have very complete data 
in this respect, and all their works of reference pay especial attention to the 
subject. As an instance I may cite Oates’ “Game Birds of India”, a tiny duo- 
decimo volume intended for the use of the sportsman. In its small compass 
eighty-eight species of upland game birds are treated: Habits, recognition 
marks, descriptions, nidification, measurements, weights, and, in nearly every 
species, a full record of colors of soft parts. 
The utter indifference of even the best ornithologists of America to this 
“very important matter” has been brought home to me rather forcibly by a 
