COLLECTING AND PREPARING BIRD SKINS. 



TAXIDERMY 



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FOR THE CABINET. 



In preparing specimens for scientific purposes it is not worth 

 while to make a collection of mounted birds» although they may 

 be very desirable for ornamental purposes. To the student of or- 

 nithology it takes too much time which may more profitably be de- 

 voted to field work, and again, mounted birds take up too much 

 room and are not so easily handled and examined as skins 



Cabinets:— In all ordinary eases collections of skins are preserved 

 in the drawers of a cabinet — this in shape resembling a bureau or sim 

 ilar to the illustration of the egg cabinet on page 90 is very conven- 

 ient both for the storage and transportation of specimens. The draw- 

 ers should fit tightly to exclude dust and insects ; and the case should 

 also be made with folding doors. The dimensions of a convenient 

 cabinet is about four feet in height, three feet wide and two feet 

 deep, having drawers of graded depths, from the deepest at the 

 92 



