THK OOLOGIST. 



2:7 



A Few "Don'ts' for Amateurs in Making 

 Bird Skins. 



Don't omit to measure the length be- 

 fore skinning your bird — it is the only 

 measurement you can't get from the 

 dried skin. 



Don't forget to stop your bird's mouth 

 and nostrils with clean cotton — you 

 may save trouble in washing. 



Don't cut too far up on the breast — 

 midway between the end of the "wish- 

 bone" and the beginning of the abdom- 

 inal cavity is about right — your skin 

 will be smooth and better shaped on 

 the breast. 



Don't cut too close when amputating 

 the tail — if you cut the ends of the 

 quills you will lose the feathers. 



Doti't pick alt the feathers off the 

 r.ump when skinning do svn the back — 

 you will need a few to make your spec- 

 imen presentable. 



Don't strip the ends of the second- 

 aries from the bone when cleaning the 

 wing, the skin will spread enough to 

 let you get most of the meat out and 

 a pinch of arsenic in the cavity will set- 

 tle the balance. You will find it much 

 easier to make up your skin. 



Don't stretch the neck. 



Don't stop skinning till you have pass- 

 ed the eyelids — then if you break an eye 

 the fluid will not soil the feathers. 



Don't economize on arsenic. 



Don't put the eye-cotton in from the 

 outside — make a smooth ball of cotton 

 and put it in the eye-socket before re- 

 versing the skin. If it becomes bloody 

 put in I clean one. 



Doit omit to put a wire or stick in 

 your >pecimen's neck. Let the end 

 stick into the brain cavity, and the bal- 

 ance lie along the back of the neck to a 

 point between the wings. 



Don't put the end of the neck-roll in- 

 to the brain cavity — put it up the 

 throat. 



Don't put the body-roll over the neck- 

 roll. Lift up the end of the neck-roll 



and insert the end of the body-roll un- 

 der it, letting it lie on top of the stick. 



Don't omit to pinch the bird between 

 the shoulders before you try to put the 

 wings in place. 



Don't get the secondaries bunched 

 up. 



Don't leave the mouth open. 



Do7i't let the cotton body protrude — 

 you can dress the feathers over the cut. 



Don't have a label large enough to 

 wrap your skin in. 



Don't fail to label correctly — Date, lo- 

 cality and' sex are the most impoi'tant 

 items. 



Don't spoil a nicely stuffed skin in 

 the wrapping— select one method of 

 wrapping and make yourself perfect in 

 it. Strix, Drytown, Calif. 



My First Take of '96. 



February 22d my friend B. and I 

 started out prospecting for Great Horn- 

 ed Owls nests. Our objective point 

 was a place about 3 miles from town, 

 called "The Island." We had in view 

 a large oak tree, in which three young- 

 owls were seen last February. On ar- 

 riving in tho vicinity of the tree a male 

 Owl was seen to fly to a tree a short 

 distance from us, to be joined soon 

 after by the female. Not having seen 

 where the female came from we made 

 preparations to examine all the nests 

 and hollow ti"ees in the immediate 

 neighborhood. B. being the light 

 weight to him fell the lot of climbing 

 the lirst tree, the one before mentioned 

 Strapping on his climbers he started on 

 his 20 foot climb with my good wishes 

 for his success. Ai'riving at the hole 

 and peering in a short time he called 

 out, "Plenty of feathers and a new nest 

 but no eggs." While he was coming 

 down I went up to another hole but 

 met with the same fate. We examined 

 ■several other nests and holes but were 

 compelled to give it up and go home 

 empty handed. Beiufr satistied from 



