o 
taken to keep these exactly as they are in life. If, as is often the 
case, there is a discharge of mucus from the nostrils, it should be 
carefully soaked up with wool before the skinning begins; but no 
more than a tiny wisp of wool should be inserted, care being taken 
not to disturb the actual shape of the aperture. A far better way of 
preventing any discharge during the preparation of the bird’s skin 
is to open the bill and, while plugging the mouth, insert a tiny piece 
of wool into the cleft in its roof. 
The mouth must always be carefully filled with cotton-wool 
before commencing to skin. 
Any shot-wounds should he either dusted with sand or lightly 
plugged with wool; but it should be remembered that bloodstains 
are more easily removed by taxidermists in England than by the 
collector in the field, and that it is therefore better not to try to 
clean skins on the spot. Any discharge from the nostrils must, 
however, be looked after carefully, as it spoils the skin when the 
head is being turned back, and the stain of mucus cannot be 
eradicated. If the eyes have been damaged, it is well to sprinkle 
them with plaster of Paris or dry sand, and to plug them under the 
eyelids with a tiny wisp of cotton-wool before commencing. 
REMOVAL AND PREPARATION OF THE SKIN. 
The next objects are to remove the skin from the body and to 
restore it to its natural appearance. Through the incision now to 
be made, the whole of the bird’s body has to be drawn out, and 
this should be done as neatly and expeditiously as possible. Many 
taxidermists make the incision down the side of the body under 
one wing. This has the advantage of preserving the feathers of 
the breast and abdomen intact, but ‘there is also a risk of making the 
skin lop-sided. If the incision be made under the ete wing, the 
joints should be cut through in the following order 
neck, right shoulder, left thigh, right thigh, tail ; or left thich, tail, 
right thigh. An excellent way, especially with Game-birds, is to 
make an incision from the vent on either side to the upper edge 
of the thigh. By this means a triangular flap is made of the 
abdominal skin, which falls back into “place after the body has 
been taken out, and the feathers of the breast are not disturbed 
at all. Many taxidermists prefer the plan indicated in fig. 1, and 
explained beneath the figure. Others cut the bird open along the 
keel of the breast-bone to the top of the abdomen. This cut should 
not be carried far beyond the front end of the keel, or the skin will 
tear across the sides of the neck while it is being removed, and the 
damage will be irreparable. The skin is next pushed back till the 
left shoulder is exposed : this must be divided at the shoulder-joint, 
