HOW TO MAKE A BIEDSKIN. 35 



•' large " birds, say anything from a hen-hawk upward, various special manipulations I have 

 directed may be foregone, while however you observe their general drift and intent. You may 

 open the bird as directed, or, turning it tail to you, cut with a knife.^ Forceps are rarely 

 required ; there is not much that is too small to be taken in hand. As soon as the tail is 

 divided, hang up the bird by the rump, so you wUl have both hands free. Let it swing clear 

 of the wall or table, at any height most convenient. The steel hooks of a dissecting case are 

 not always large enough; use a stout fish-hook with the barb filed ofi". Work with your naUs, 

 assisted by the scalpel if necessary. I know of no bird, and I think there is none, in this 

 country at least, the skin of which is so intimately adherent by fibrous or muscular tissue as 

 to require actual dissecting throughout ; a pelican comes, perhaps, as near this as any ; but in 

 many cases the knife may be constantly en] ployed with advantage. Use it with long clean 

 sweeping strokes, hugging the skin rather than the body. The knee and shoulder commonly 

 require disarticulation, unless you use bone-nippers or strong shears ; the four cuts of the skull 

 may presuppose a very able-bodied instrument, even a chisel. The wings will give you the 

 most trouble, and they require a special process ; for you cannot readily break up the adhesions 

 of the secondary quills to the ulna, nor is it desirable that very large feathers should be 

 deprived of this natural support. Hammer or nip ofi" the great head of the upper arm-bone, 

 just below the insertion of the breast muscles; clean the rest of that bone and leave it in. Tie 

 a string around it (what sailors call '' two half hitches " gives a secure hold on the bony 

 cylinder), and tie it to the other humerus, inside the skin, so that the two bones shall be rather 

 less than their natural distance apart. After the skin is brought right side out, attack the 

 wings thus : Spread the wing under side uppermost, and secure it on the table by dri\'ing 

 a tack or brad through the wrist -joint; this fixes the far end, while the weight of the skin 

 steadies the other. Raise a whole layer of the under wing-coverts, and make a cut in the skin 

 thus exposed, from elbow to wrist, in the middle line between the two forearm bones. Raise 

 the flaps of skin and all the muscle is laid bare ; it is to be removed. This is best done by 

 lifting each muscle from its bed separately, slipping the handle of the scalpel under the 

 individual bellies ; there is little if any bony attachment except at each end, and this is reatlily 

 severed. Strew in arsenic ; a little cotton may be used to fill the bed of inuscle removed from 

 a very large bird ; bring the flaps of skin together, and smooth down the coverts ; you need 

 not be particular to sew up the cut, for the coverts will hide the ojjening ; in fact, the operation 

 does not show at all after the make-up. StuflBng of large birds is not commonly done with 

 only the four pieces already directed. The eyeballs, and usually the neck-cylinder, go in as 

 before ; the body may be filled any way you please, provided you do not put in too much 

 stuffing nor get any between the shoulders. All large birds had better have the leg-bones 

 wrapped to nearly natural size. Observe that the leg-muscles do not form a cylinder, but a 

 cone ; let the wrapping taper naturally from top to bottom. Attention to this point is neces- 

 sary for all large or medium-sized birds with naturally prominent legs. The large finely 

 feathered legs <>f a hawk, for example, ought to be well displayed ; with these birds, and also 

 with rails, etc., au^reover, imitate the bulge of the thigh with a special wad laid inside the 

 skin. Large bir^ commonly require also a special wad introduced by the mouth, to make 

 the swell of the throat ; this wad should be rather flufi'y than firm. As a rule, do not fill out 



• Certain among larger birds are often opened elsewhere than along the belly, with what advantage I cannot 

 say from my own experience. Various water birds, such as loons, grebes, auks, gulls, and ducks (in fact any 

 swimming bird with dense under plumage) may be opened along the side by a cut umler the wings from the 

 shoulder over the hip to the rump; the cut is completely hidden by the make-up, and the plumage is never ruffled. 

 But I see no necessity for this; for, as a rule, the belly opening can, if desired, be completely etiaced with due care, 

 though a very greasy bir<l with white under i)lumage generally stains where opened, in spite of every precaution. 

 Such birds as loons, grebes, cormorants, and penguins are often openetl by a cut across the fundament from one 

 leg to the other; their conformation in fact suggests and favors this operation. I have often seen water birds slit 

 down the back ; but I consider it very poor practice. 



