HINTS ABOUT COUNTING 387 



Birds for study and analysis. — If the birds are to be used in 

 class work, the toes shoukl be carefully spread apart and held 

 in place by pins till dry, so that the amount of growing to- 

 gether of joints and the amount of webbing, if any, can be easily 

 determined. The mouth should also be left slightly open. A 

 good plan is to place a piece of a wooden toothpick between the 

 mandibles, and, if necessary, pass a needle and thread through 

 the nostrils and tie the thread under the bill. To insure the 

 slight elevation of the wings necessary to determine the char- 

 acter of the first primary, place a little cotton under their 

 lower edges before introducing the pins to hold them in place. 



Bird stands. — Ground birds and water birds should be placed 

 on flat boards, while most perching birds are better if placed 

 on bird stands, like the one shown in the illustration of the 

 mounted English sparrow (p. 382). If the birds are to be 

 handled by students, the bottoms in all cases should be large 

 enough to preclude the possibility of their being upset. 



Finishing the specimen. — After the bird is thoroughly dry, 

 all the projecting wires, pins, etc., are to be carefully cut off. 

 The wire-cuttiug pincers must work well, so as to completely 

 sever the wires below the surface feathers. Any twisting or 

 bending of the wires in an attempt to break off the parts 

 which the cutting pliers have left will be sure to distui-b and 

 injure some part of the specimen. 



Bare skin. — The bill, legs, and other parts not covered with 

 feathers will change color and lose brightness ; so, sometimes 

 these parts are painted and varnished. In some cases a little 

 of this work is necessar}', but generally it is not advisable. 



Poison. — Great care must be taken hot to get the arsenic 

 into any cut there may be on the hands. If there are any 

 openings in the skin they should be covered with strips of 

 court-plaster. As soon as possible after finishing a bird, the 

 hands should be thoroughly washed and all material carefully 

 remov'^ed from under the nails. 



Sewing the skin together. — All large birds need to have the 

 skin along the abdomen carefully sewed together. 



