PRESERVATION OF EGGS AND SKINS. 619 



As to nests, all that can be done with them is to preserve 

 them in cabinets or chests, loosely stitching with thread those 

 that are apt to be injured by being handled. It is only those 

 of the smaller birds that can be kept. 



Then, for birds themselves, the spoils of which are necessary 

 to the ornithologist, there are various methods. All the parts 

 of a bird may be preserved, but few collectors care for more 

 than the skin and feathers. To skin a bird, lay it on its back, 

 with its head from you ; make an incision from the fore part of 

 the breast to near the tail ; separate the skin on each side, using 

 sometimes the blade and sometimes the handle of the scalpel ; 

 thrust forward the legs, which separate at the knee joint ; then 

 cut across the rump, and skin the back and sides, until you 

 come to the wdngs, which divide at the shoulder joint. Pull 

 the skin over the head and neck, cutting the membrane of the 

 ears, and scooping out the eyes ; then separate the body by 

 cutting the occiput across ; remove the brain and tongue, as 

 well as the muscles of the head and limbs ; and after clearing 

 away whatever fat or flesh may remain adhering to the skin, 

 anoint its whole inner surface with arsenical soap liberally ap- 

 plied. Wrap some tow round the bones of the legs and wings ; 

 thrust cotton into the cavity of the cranium and the orbits ; lay 

 the skin on the table ; fill it to the natural size or nearly so ; 

 stitch it up ; smooth down the feathers ; keep the wings in 

 place by a bandage ; and suspend by the legs, but not by the 

 nostrils, or lay it on a tray in an open place, until dry. Finally, 

 sprinkle over the plumage some pure rectified oil of turpentine ; 

 write on a small neatly cut piece of pasteboard the name, sex, 

 date, and place of the specimen ; affix it to the right tarsus, so 

 that it may lie across the body ; and deposit the preparation 

 in its place. 



Skins may be kept in drawers of a cabinet, or in chests hav- 

 ing moveable trays of various depths. Two cabinets of mode- 

 rate size are sufficient to contain specimens of all the British 

 birds, of which, however, an individual can never make a com- 

 plete collection. For description, or for comparison with 

 descriptions, skins thus preserved are preferable to stuffed or 

 mounted specimens, and occupy comparatively little room. To 

 prevent the ravages of moths, they ought to be frequently in- 



