5 
the humeral bone being always left with the wing (see fig. 2). 
Then the skin must be ‘carefully pushed back by the fingers and 
thumb-nails till the neck is exposed. This must be cut “through 
with the nail-scissors, care being taken not to make a hole w ith 
their sharp points in the skin “below the neck ; the right wing 
must then be attacked, and also severed at the shoulder. Ali 
this time, with each motion of the fingers, the feathers of the 
breast will be exposed to the risk of being soiled by the moist 
surface of the body. It is, therefore, necessary to have some 
sawdust or sand handy to sprinkle over the raw flesh as it becomes 
exposed ; and if this be not available, a wisp of wool laid along 
the base of the feathers will keep them back in a most unexpected 
way ; but, as already stated, after a few attempts at skinning a bird, 
the fingers will be found to interpose by instinct, and to prevent the 
feathers from becoming soiled by contact with the flesh. 
The two wing-joints and the neck being severed from the trunk, 
the skin can easily be pushed off the back of the bird tili by degrees 
the thigh-bones are approached. In many birds—such ag Thrushes, 
for instance—the skin is very firmly attached to the lower back, and 
any attempt to hurry will end in splitting the skin right across. 
Although an accident of this sort may not ultimately destroy the 
appearance of the skin, it is difficult to restore the natural set of the 
feathers of the upper surface. As the skin is pushed off the lower back 
and thighs, the latter come prominently into view, and they should be 
severed at the knee-joint (see fig. 1). The tibial bone itself, when not 
broken by a shot, should always be kept in the skin, as it becomes a 
support for the legs when the skin is made up. By the severance of 
first one thigh and then the. other, nothing is left to cut but the tail ; 
and when the skin has been pulled down sufficiently to expose the oil- 
gland, it may be detached by a sharp cut above the latter. It shouid 
be noted that a good deal of flesh can be left on the root of the tail 
without damage to the skin, provided that it be thoroughly well dressed 
with arsenical soap. It is a maxim in the preservation of mammals and 
birds that all fat should be removed from the skin as far as possible ; 
but this requires great care, and the arsenical soap will account for 
any smmall fragments of fat which have to be left. 
It now remains to remove the flesh from the legs and wings, and 
to turn the head and neck inside out. By pushing the leg up from 
the outside, the flesh is soon exposed along the shaft of the leg-bone, 
and is easily removed with the tendons. ‘A wisp of cotton or tow is 
wrapped round the bone, as a substitute for the flesh, and the legs 
are then drawn back to their natural position. The wings are then 
dealt with: the flesh is removed from the humerus, and by a certain 
amount of pressure the skin which conceals the flesh of the other 
wing-bones can be pushed back, when the flesh which lies between 
them must be cut out as far as possible. In the case of large birds 
