6 
it will be found best to make an incision along the wing-coverts from 
the under side of the wing. The flesh can thus easily be removed, and 
the cut is not noticed when the skin is made up and the wings folded 
close to the body. The wing-bones and the skin of the wing should 
be thoroughly dressed with arsenical soap, as any flesh remaining is 
apt to decay, and then the wing-coverts and the quills fall out. In 
small birds there is not so much risk of this misfortune, but large 
birds are often spoilt through inattention to these details. 
The preparation of the head is usually considered by beginners to 
be very difficult, but in reality it is quite easy. Special care should 
be taken not to stretch the neck, as a skin in this state is always 
ugly ; and the neck, when once unduly stretched, can never be got 
back to its proper length. By gently forcing the skin of the head 
back from the outside, the skull is gradually exposed ; and, except 
in the case of very small birds, it is necessary to skin down to the 
base of the bill. When the skin has been pushed back as far as 
the eyeballs, it will be found to be connected firmly with the ear 
(see fig. 2). This must be detached, on each side, by placing the 
point of the knife under the tightly stretched skin and_ carefully 
lifting it out of the tube (the aperture of the ear) to which it is 
attached. The next difficulty is the eyelid. Still stretching the 
skin towards the bill, make a light cross-cut behind the point of 
attachment above the eyeball, taking care not to cut into the latter. 
This cut will partially separate the eyelid from the eye, and a second 
upward cut from in front backwards completes the operation. It is 
very important to preserve the eyelid intact, as nothing spoils the 
appearance of a skin so much as a torn or damaged eyelid. Hach 
eyeball should be removed from its orbit by slipping the knife under 
it and severing the optic nerve and muscles by which it is kept in 
place, holding it meanwhile between the knife and the thumb. The 
brain may next be scooped out through an opening made by cutting 
a triangular hole through the back of the skull and extending it 
forwards along part of its floor. A portion of the head and the 
tongue are removed during this operation, and pieces of flesh 
covering any parts of the skull which are left in the skin should 
also be scraped away. The skull and the skin of the body should 
then be carefully dressed everywhere with arsenical soap, and the 
head turned back by means of a little gentle manipulation. Great 
are must be taken not to stretch the skin of the neck in pulling 
the head back into position; and the head and neck should always 
be drawn back towards the body before the skin is made up. The 
skin may now be made up in the following way :—Opening the bill, 
small tufts of pure white bleached wool, which fill out the contour 
of each eye in turn, are put into the eye-sockets, through the hole 
cut in the palate. This method has the advantage of filling out 
the eyelid, and bringing into relief any eyebrow which may be a 
