94 MEASURING SPECIMENS. 



particular species — the haunts of these can only be known to him 

 by the ripening of his general experience in field work. Such 

 things must be learned in actual practice. One intending to make 

 a general collection of the birds of any particular vicinity will do 

 well to cover the whole ground, ransacking every locality. Birds 

 as a rule are found in low well watered and wooded places. Early 

 morning and late evening hours are the best for collecting. Each 

 specimen as soon as procured should be carefully cleansed and 

 smoothed; the mouth and vent should be plugged with cotton. 

 The specimen should then be thrust head first into a stiff paper 

 cone, in order to keep the plumage from injury. I would recom- 

 mend a fish-basket or wooden box to carry the result of the day's 

 shooting. 



Measuring Specimens: — Before skinning, each specimen should be 

 measured as to the total length and spread of the wings, as these 

 dimensions cannot be accurately taken after it is prepared for the 

 cabinet. The "length" is the distance in a strait line from the tip 

 of the bill to the end of the tail. The ''expanse of wing" is the 

 distance between the ends of the longest primaries when the wings 

 are fuUy spread apart. 



A third measurement may also be taken before the specimen is 

 skinned ; that is, the "length of wing," which means the distance 

 from the "bend of the wing" (from the carpal or wrist joint, some- 

 times improperly called the shoulder) to the end of the longest 

 primary. Other measurements, usually taken either from the fresh 

 or dry specimen, are those of the tail, bill, tarsus and middle toe 

 with its claw. The tail should be measured from the insertion of 

 the feathers in the coccyx to the end of the longest feather. Bills 

 and feet cannot usually be accurately measured without the 

 comoass. Besides measuring.it is always well to note thecolor of the 

 eyes bill, feet naked patches of skin, or any soft parts liable to fade or 

 change in any way in drying. All these memoranda should be en- 

 tered in a note book, and also inscribed on the label of the speci- 

 men, together with the date of capture, the sex (ascertained by dis- 

 section), the locality where procured, the collector's name, and any 

 further notes or observations that would be of interest. 



