MATERIALS FOR PREPARING BIRDSKINS. 25 
from the roots of the rectrices to the end of the longest one. Feel for the pope’s nose; in either 
a fresh or dried specimen there is more or less of a palpable lump into which the tail-feathers 
stick. Guess as near as you can to the middle of this lump; place the end of the ruler opposite 
this point, and see where the tip of the longest tail-feather comes. ‘‘ Length of bill: ” Some 
take the curve of the upper mandible; others the side of the upper mandible from the feathers ; 
others the gape, etc. I take the chord of the culmen. Place one foot of the dividers on the 
culmen just where the feathers end; no matter whether the culmen runs up on the forehead, or 
the frontal feathers run out on the culmen, and no matter whether the culmen is straight or 
curved. Then with me the length of the bill is the shortest distance from the point just indi- 
cated to the tip of the upper mandible ; measure it with the dividers. In a straight bill of 
course it is the length of the culmen itself; in a curved bill, however, it is quite another thing. 
‘* Length of tarsus:” Distance between the joint of the tarsus with the leg above, and that 
with the first phalanx of the middle toe below. Measure it always with dividers, and in front 
of the leg. ‘‘ Length of toes:” Distance in a straight line along the upper surface of a toe 
from the point last indicated to the root of the claw on top. Length of toe is to be taken 
without the claw, unless otherwise specified. ‘‘ Length of the claws:” Distance in a straight line 
from the point last indicated to the tip of the claw. ‘ Length of head” is often a convenient 
dimension for comparison with the bill. Set one foot of the dividers over the base of the culmen 
(determined as above) and allow the other to slip snugly down over the arch of the occiput. 
§ 6.— INSTRUMENTS, MATERIALS, AND FIXTURES FOR PREPARING BIRDSKINS. 
Instruments. — The only indispensable instrument is a pair of scissors or a knife ; 
although practically yon want both of these, a pair of spring forceps, and a knitting-needle, or 
some similar wooden or ivory object, yet I have made hundreds of birdskins consecutively 
without touching another tool. ‘ Persicos odi, puer, apparatus!” I always mistrust the 
emphasis of a collector who makes a flourish of instruments. You might be surprised to see 
what a meagre, shabby-looking kit our best taxidermists work with. Stick to your scissors, 
knife, forceps, and needle. But you may as well buy, at the outset, a common dissecting-case, 
just what medical students begin business with; it is very cheap, and if there are some unneces- 
sary things in it, it makes a nice little box in which to keep your tools. The case contains, 
among other things, several scalpels, just the knives you want; a ‘‘ cartilage-knife,” which is 
nothing but a stout scalpel, suitable for large birds; the best kind of scissors for your purpose, 
with short blades and long handles —if ‘‘ kneed” at the hinge so much the better; spring 
forceps, the very thing; a blow-pipe, useful in many ways and answering well for a knitting- 
needle ; and some little steel-hooks, chained together, which you may want to use. But you 
will also require, for large birds, a very heavy pair of scissors, or small shears, short-bladed 
and long-handled, and a stout pair of bone-nippers. Have some pins and needles; surgical 
needles, which cut instead of punching, are the best. Get a hone or strop, if you wish, and a 
feather duster. Use of scissors requires no comment, and I would urge their habitual employ 
instead of the knife-blade ; I do nine-tenths of my cutting with scissors, and find it much the 
easiest. A double-lever is twice as effective as a single one, and besides, you gain in cutting 
soft, yielding substances by opposing two blades. Moreover, scalpels need constant sharpen- 
ing; mine are generally too dull to cut much with, and I suppose I am like other people — 
while scissors stay sharp enough. The flat, thin ivory or ebony handle of the sealpel is about 
ns useful as the blade. Finger-nails, which were made before scalpels, are a mighty help. 
Forceps are almost indispensable for seizing and holding parts too small or too remote to be 
grasped by the fingers. The knitting-needle is wanted for a specific purpose noted beyond. 
The shears or nippers are only needed for what the ordinary scissors are too weak to do. Our 
instruments, you see new, are ‘a short horse soon curried.” 
