Natural History 355 



This is one of the most difficult parts of the skinning. 

 It is so hard to get at, and so easy to tear the skin, that 

 one is to be congratulated if in the first lesson he safely 

 "rounds Cape Horn." 



At all stages keep the meal applied to the body as fast 

 as it is exposed, and in quantity enough to soak up all 

 moisture; and avoid stretching the skin. 



With the tail and legs free, there is no difficulty in 

 pushing the skin off until stopped by the wings. 



Cut them off at the shoulder joint deep in the muscles 

 of the breast (W. W, Fig. 4) , leaving them attached to the 

 skin, just as the legs and tail are. 



The skin is now inside out. It can readily be worked 

 along the neck and onto the head. Here it is stopped 

 by the ears. In the robin these are like pockets of skin 

 tucked into the small skull and may be easily pulled out 

 without cutting. In large birds the knife must be used. 

 The next and last difficulty is the eyes. The skin must 

 be cut free from them, carefully avoiding injury to the 

 eyelids or the eyeballs. 



Now the skin is attached only to the forepart of the 

 skull (Fig. 4). Cut off the neck at the back of the skull 

 and the skin is freed from the body, but needs careful 

 cleaning. 



Dig the eyes out of the sockets, taking great care not 

 to break the eyeballs, as their liquid is very difficult to 

 remove from the feathers. Cut out a section of the skull 

 so as to enlarge the hole behind by extending it downward 

 and sideways, as shown in Fig. 5, and remove the brains 

 through this. Cut off any lumps of flesh left about the 

 jaws, but do not break the jaw bone or its joints. 



Next turn attention to the wings. Push the skin back 

 to the first joint (the elbow) in each. Cut and scrape 

 the meat from the bone. But there is a joint beyond 



