150 PREPARING SPECIMENS 



which must be disjointed from the body, and to the tail, the 

 bone of which must be cut off, carefully cleansed and left 

 attached to the skin. The body can now be drawn out so as 

 to get readily at the wings, which are also to be disjointed. 

 The neck is then drawn out and the skinning continued to 

 the root of the bill. The eyes as well as all the soft parts of 

 the head are next to be cleaned, taking care not to burst the 

 former which would discharge the fluid they contain and 

 injure the feathers. The neck is cut off close to the head, 

 which is then drawn back into its natural position. This 

 latter object is sometimes difficult to accomplish in birds 

 having long slender necks unless a string of sufficient length 

 be first attached to the bill, by which the head can readily be 

 drawn back. In birds having large crests as this process is 

 impossible without injuring them, an incision must be made 

 in the back of the neck and the head cleaned by that means. 

 The bones of the wings and legs are next to be freed from the 

 flesh, and the whole skin and skull, (fcc. &c. rubbed with 

 arsenic as previously directed. In cleaning the bones of the 

 wings of large birds it is generally difficult to draw them out 

 of the skin, when this is the case an incision must be made 

 along the under part of the wing, for the purpose of removing 

 the flesh. The bird must lastly be filled with tow or raw 

 cotton, inserting it with fine pincers into the neck and sock- 

 ets of the eye, &c. The wings are then folded, the neck, 

 legs and tail extended, the feathers smoothed and laid straight 

 or washed with warm soap and water if necessary, and the 

 bird dried. 



When dried they can easily be packed, rolling each in a 

 separate piece of paper and sprinkling powdered camphor in 

 the box. 



It is desirable to- have both male and female with the nest 

 and eggs, and also the young ones when the age can with 

 certainty be told. It is also well to know at what season of 

 the year the specimen was killed, as many birds change their 

 plumage during the course of the year. Eggs are preserved 

 by making a small hole at each end and blowing out the 

 contents. 



