170 



THE OOLOGIST 



soles down, close up and parallel to 

 the tail. A mammal with its legs 

 spread far away from the body like a 

 squirrel on the trunk of a tree, may be 

 just as satisfactory a subject in the 

 hands of a taxidermist who wishes to 

 mount it, but if it ir? to be used as a 

 study skin in the cabinet of a collector, 

 it will literally stand away from its 

 fellows by reason of its extended feet, 

 and so not only take up unnecessary 

 room but appear out of harmony as 

 .well. 



To be uniform in appearance and 

 take up less room in the cabinet, mam- 

 mals of the same size should be shaped 

 so as to be approximately the same 

 thickness. This is easily accomplished 

 by pinning them in trays of the desired 

 depth and placing another tray on top 

 so as to press the skins down to the 

 proper thickness. Mammals the size 

 of a rabbit or small skunk should not 

 be over two inches thick, and some 

 collectors do not wish even the larger 

 species to exceed that thickness. If a 

 strip of board, the depth of the tray, is 

 pinned close up on each side of the 

 specimen while it is drying, the result 

 will be a specimen uniform in thick- 

 ness and width, while a number of 

 such skins in a cabinet tray will take 

 up the least amount of room. It is 

 probably unnecessary to remark that 

 the label should be tied on the right 

 leg before the specimen is pinned out 

 to dry. 



Since the skull as well as the skin 

 of a mammal is studied, and very often 

 required in order that the specie may 

 be determined, it is obvious that it 

 should be retained with as much care 

 as the skin. Disconnect it from the 

 body and remove the greater part of 

 the heavy flesh, carefully, so as not to 

 injure the bones. The brains are 

 easily removed through the natural 

 opening in the back of the skull by the 

 use of a brain spoon. Tie the skull 

 tag, numbered (with water proof ink) 



to correspond with the number on the 

 skin label, and drop it in water for a 

 day to soak out the blood. Then hang 

 it on a wire in a safe place to dry. 



Mammals are usually exchanged 

 with the skulls roughly cleaned and 

 dried. The final cleaning is an art by 

 itself if done properly, and though 

 quite simple requires more space to 

 describe than I wish to take. For a 

 good method the reader is referred to 

 "An easy method of Cleaning Skulls," 

 by A. Brazier Howell; (Journal of 

 Mammalogy, 1919, Vol. 1, page 40.) 



In this note I have outlined some of 

 the things that enter into the make up 

 of a' good mammal skin witli full scien- 

 tific value, which will not only be a 

 credit to the collector but of greatest 

 value to the one who eventually uses 

 it in scientific study. 



Birds have been collected by the 

 cord, and while they are very interest- 

 ing, the mammalogist today has a 

 greater opportunity for research. Much 

 has yet to be learned of mammals of 

 localities where birds have received 

 considerable attention. 



Blaine, Oregon 



The half tone illustrating this paper 

 will appear in the January issue of the 

 Oologist.— R. M. B. 



BIRDS 



In 1918 I put up a house to see if I 

 could attract a pair of Blue Birds. I 

 had noticed it seemed that was what 

 they were looking for, a's they imme- 

 diately accepted it and started to build 

 a nest and she soon had four eggs 

 which she hatched and raised. 



As soon as they brought them out of 

 the nest the male bird took them and 

 disappeared, the female began to re- 

 pair her nest and soon had four more 

 eggs. It was then quite hot and her 

 house was an old railroad semaphone 

 lamp. She was hardly ever on the 

 nest in the day time and I thought the 



