THE OOLOGIST. 



71 



material, and the fact that the toes 

 are arranged two in front and two be- 

 hind, instead of three in front and 

 one behind, as is the case, with most 

 birds. They commonly feed on the 

 larvae which live in the trees just be- 

 neath the bark and possess wonderful 

 instinct in determining the burrows 

 of these creatures, making a hole 

 through the bark at the precise spot 

 through which their long barbed 

 tongue must be inserted to draw out 

 the grub into their mouth. 



The largest of the family is the 

 Ivorj-billed, so called from the color 

 of the beak. This bird is now practi- 

 cally extinct. 



The Woodpeckers are of inestimable 

 value to the farmers, in keeping down 

 the insect pests that are so destruc- 

 tive to our forests. The pair of Wood- 

 peckers at work on the beech tree 

 shown in the picture were in search 

 of the larvae of the horn-tail, a very 

 destructive insect. All of the work 

 shown on this tree was done in the 

 space of a few days by these birds. 



Owing to this fact, the tree was of 

 great interest, as proving the enor- 

 mous strength of this bird, as well as 

 its presence in this locality. For this 

 reason arrangements were made to 

 cut it down, bring it to Buffalo and 

 place it in the room of the Buffalo So- 

 ciety of Natural Sciences, where it 

 can be seen by all interested. 



O. REIXECKE. 



PREPARATION OF BIRD SKINS. 



Having ventured, in the Issue of 

 the Oologist for March, last( to take 

 up the cudgels in behalf of greater 

 care, among younger students, in the 

 matter of identifications, I now add 

 a few suggestions for the benefit of 

 those to whom some, at least, of the 

 book suggestions and directions for 

 making up bird skins, may have left 

 much unsaid; 



One should be careful to learn, 

 early in his career as a bird-killer, 

 exactly the killing and the tearing 

 power of a given charge of powder 

 and shot. This care, observed in the 

 field, will usually result in a minimum 

 of birds blown to pieces and, on the 

 other hand, in a maximum of birds 

 secured. It is hard to say which 

 could be cause of the greater chagrin: 

 to have a rare bird shot out of all 

 semblance by a too-near shot; or to 

 see escape some hird of no intrinsic 

 value, of itself, and which hence 

 would have done just as well if badly 

 shot-up, — which yet, in its escaping, 

 has left unauthenticated a unique 

 nesting record, — not, mind you, mere- 

 ly for a single State; but for the en- 

 tire Union! 



Few beginners know how wonderful 

 a help to clean work, in taxidermy, 

 is to be found in the use of soft, ab- 

 sorptive newspaper. Fat is the great 

 enemy of this craft; and it must be 

 removed, and removed often, bit by 

 bit, with most overmastering patience 

 if the bird on which one is working 

 is to have any scientific or aesthetic 

 value. (But I have forgotten to meas- 

 ure my bird. So, indeed, has the oth- 

 er fellow. The three greater measure- 

 ments, Wing, Length and Extent, are 

 matters of obligation. And let us re- 

 membei : that quarter-inches measure 

 not, definitively. Who knows but that 

 some day, a series of one hundredth- 

 inch niceties may evolve, somewhere, 

 another of Dr. Dwight's satirically 

 nick-named "millimeter" races.) 



One common default in bird-skin 

 preparation lies in scantiness, or lack, 

 of poison. The nasal cavity, while it 

 ought to receive especial treatment 

 often receives, in point of fact, scarce- 

 ly any. The preservative should be 

 carefully worked in to the nares. It 

 should also be thoroughly crammed 

 into the bases of the tail feathers. 



In making the skin it is a great 



