SKINNING AND PREPARING BIRDS. 
ties. Others, as the wood white, are found near fields of lezumi- 
nous plants, and are very generally diffused. Another, which is 
often mistaken for it at a distance—the marble white—has, on 
a nearer view, streaks of black and a pale yellow, feeds chiefly 
on grasses, and is found in Sussex and Hampshire, and on 
the Surrey hills in July and August. But my space does not 
permit of my entering on this interesting subject further, and 
as I cannot return to the subject, I shall here say a few words 
on the best mode of killing and preserving insects. Some col- 
lectors carry chloroform in a small bottle. When an insect is 
captured, a little chloroform is dropped on the blotting-paper 
at the bottom of the box in which it is placed; this kills the 
insect; but the more usual way is to give it a quick nip between 
the finger and thumb just under the wing, which kills it instantly. 
It is then transfixed by passing a pin through the thorax, fixing 
the sharp point in the cork of the box. 
On returning home set it out in the following manner :— 
Having provided yourself with a setting-board, which is sold at 
any of the naturalists’ shops; place the body of the insect in 
the centre of the board in which there is a groove to receive it, 
so as to let the wings spread out smoothly without any curve. 
Having spread out the wings very gently, take four pims and 
four small pieces of cardboard of an angular shape, with the 
base rounded off; place the pointed end over the four tips of 
the wings just far enough to hold them down, and fix each 
down firmly to the board by passing a pin through the card 
into the cork. All the beauty of the preparation depends on 
the wings being evenly spread and lying smooth on the board, 
and care only is required to make them lie so. 

er ne er eS ET Sr STS 
SKINNING AND PREPARING BIRDS. 
In skinning and preparing the animals whose capture we 
have been plotting, certain instruments are necessary. These 
are, 1. a case of scalpels; 2. a knife with toothed blade sharp 
towards the point, the other a straight blade; 3. two pairs of 
scissors of different sizes, one six inches long, another ten inches, 
and one with a short blade, the other straight and sharp- 
pointed ; 4. two pairs of cutting-nippers; 5. two pairs of pliers 
for stretching wire, one stronger than the other; 6, a smith’s 
portable vice for holding the wire; 7. a scoop for removing the 
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