INSTEIICTIONS EOU THE PRESERVATION 



OE BIRDS. 



General Remarks. 



A LITTLE patience and a little practice are all that is wanted to 

 make a good skin of a bird. Also it should be remembered that no 

 more time is wanted to make a good skin than a bad one. Thus it 

 should be the aim of every naturalist to attain perfection in the art 

 of preparing specimens ; and, after all, this is very easy. 



The skinning of a bird demands but few tools. Many collectors 

 require a penknife only ; but the tyro should at least be provided 

 with a sharp knife or scalpel, a pair of stout nail-scissors, as well 

 as some arsenical soap, bleached wool, tow, and a sharp-pointed 

 awl or darning-needle. 



The knife is needed for making the first incision, and it is useful 

 for scraping off fat from the skin. The nail-scissors are wanted for 

 cutting through the flesh, and severing the tendons and the bones at 

 their joints. 



Arsenical soap is the best preservative for general use, as skins 

 dressed with it retain much of their natural elasticity, and can at 

 any time be mounted. Powdered arsenic is largely used, especially 

 by American naturalists, and is useful in a damp climate, as it dries 

 the skins quickly. The disadvantages of employing it are, firstly, 

 the danger in carrying it about, and secondly, that specimens so 

 preserved become shrunken and brittle, and are never so easy to 

 mount. Alum and pepper do not keep off the attacks of moths 

 and beetles, and for various reasons are not to be recommended. 

 Carbolized specimens are all but worthless, as they fall to 



