HOW TO MAKE A BIRDSKIN. 31 



leave in one of the two fore-arm bones, to preserve sufficiently the shape of the limb, but to 

 remove the other, with the upper-arm bone and all the flesh. It is done in a moment : stick the 

 point of the scissors between the heads of the two fore-arm bones, and cut the hinder one (ulna) 

 away from the elbow; then the other fore-arm bone (radius), bearing on its near end the 

 elbow and the whole upper arm, is to be stripped away from the ulna, taking with it the flesh 

 of the fore-arm, and to be cut off at its far end close to the wrist -joint, one stroke severing the 

 bone and all the tendons that pass over the wrist to the hand ; then the ulna, bare of flesh, 

 is alone left in, attached at the wrist. Draw gently on the wing from the outside till it slips 

 into the natural position whence you everted it. Do the same for the other wing. This 

 finishes the skinning process. The skin is now to be turned right side out. Begin any way 

 you please, till you see the point of the bill reappearing among the feathers ; seize it with 

 fingers or forceps, as convenient, and use it for gentle traction. But by no means pull it out 

 by holding on to the rear end of the skin — that would infallibly stretch the skin. Holding 

 the bill, make a cylinder of your left hand and coax the skin backward with a sort of milking 

 motion. It will come easily enough, until the final stage of getting the head back into its 

 skull-cap ; this may require some little dexterity ; but you cannot fail to get the head in, if 

 you remember what you did to get it out. When this is fairly accomplished, you for the first 

 time have the pleasure of seeing something that looks like a birdskin. Your next ^ care is to 

 apply arsenic. Lay the skin on its back, the opening toward you and wide '=pread, so the 

 interior is in view. Run the scalpel-handle into the neck to dilate that cylinder until you can 

 see the skull; find your way to the orifices of the legs and wings; expose the pope's-nose; 

 thus you have not only the general skin surface, but all the points where some traces of flesh 

 were left, fairly in view. Shovel in arsenic ; dump some down the neck, making sure it reaches 

 and plentifully besprinkles the whole skull ; drop a little in each wing hole and leg hole ; 

 leave a small pile at the root of the tail ; strew some more over the skin at large. The simple 

 rule is, put in as much arsenic as will stick anywhere. Then close the opening, and shake up 

 the skin ; move the head about by the bill ; rustle the wings and move the legs ; this distrib- 

 utes the poison thoroughly. If you have got in more than is necessary, as you may judge by 

 seeing it piled up dry, anywhere, hold the skin with the opening downward over the poison- 

 drawer, and give it a flip and let the supei-fluous powder fall out. Now for the "make up," 

 upon which the beauty of the preparation depends. First get the empty skin into good shape. 

 Let it lie on its back ; draw it straight out to its natural length. See that the skin of the 

 head fits snugly ; that the eyes, ears, and jaws are in place. Expand the wings to make sure 

 that the bone is in place, and fold them so that the quills override each other naturally ; set the 

 tail-feathers shinglewise also ; draw Aown the legs and leave them straddling wide apart. 

 Give the plumage a preliminary dressing ; if the skin is free from kinks and creases, the feath- 

 ers come naturally into phice ; particular ones that may be awry should be set right, as may 

 be generally done by stroking, or by lifting thern free repeatedly, and letting them fall ; if any 

 (through carelessness) remain turned into the opening, they should be carefully picked out. 

 Remove all traces of gypsum or arsenic with the feather duster. The stulfing is to be put in 

 through the opening in the beUy ; the art is to get in just enough, in the right places. It 

 would never do to push in pellets of cotton, as you would stuff a pillow-case, till the skin is 

 filled up ; no subsequent skill in setting could remove the distortion that would result. It 

 takes just four'^ pieces of stuffing — one for each eye, one for the neck, and one for the body; 



1 Some direct the poisoning to be done while the skin is still wrong side out; and it may be very thoroughly 

 efiected at that stage. I wait, because the arsenic generally strews over the table in the operation of reversing 

 the skin, if you use as much as I think advisable; and it is better to have a cavity to put it into than a surface to 

 strew it on. 



2 For any ordinary bird up to the size of a crow. It is often directed that the leg-bones and wing-bones b« 

 wrapped with cotton or tow. I should not think of putting anything around the wing-bones of any bird up to the 

 size of an eagle, owan, or pelican. Examination of a skinned wing will show how extremely compact it is, except 



