24 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF BIRDS. 



taxidermists begin by plugging the nostrils. This should be avoided, if 

 possible, as the shape of the nostrils and their adjacent parts should 

 be left undisturbed. Many genera of birds are characterized by the 

 shape of the nostrils and their bristles, and ev^ery care should be 

 taken to keep these exactly as they are in life. If, as is often the 

 case, there is a discharge of mucus from the nostrils, it should be 

 carefully soaked up with wool before the skinning begins ; but no 

 more than a tiuy wisp of wool should be inserted, care being taken 

 not to disturb the actual shape of the aperture. A far better way 

 of preventing any discharge during the preparation of the bird's 

 skin is to open the bill and, while plugging the mouth, insert a 

 tiny piece of wool into the cleft in its roof. 



The mouth must always be carefully filled with cotton- wool 

 before commencing to skin. 



Any shot-wounds should be either dusted with sand or lightly 

 plugged with wool ; but it should be remembered that blood-stains 

 are more easily removed by taxidermists in England than by the 

 collector in the field, and that it is therefore better not to try to 

 clean skins on the spot. Any discharge from the nostrils must, 

 however, be looked after carefully, as it spoils the skin when the 

 head is being turned back, and the Stain of mucus cannot be eradi- 

 cated. If the eyes too have been damaged, it is well to sprinkle 

 them with plaster of Paris or dry sand, and plug them under the 

 eyelids with a tiny wisp of cotton-wool before commencing. 



To Skin a Small Bird. 



The next object is to remove the skin from the body, get rid of the 

 latter, and restore the skin to its natural appearance. Through 

 the incision now to be made the whole of the bird's body has to 

 be drawn out, and the only thought is how to do this as neatly and 

 expeditiously as possible. Many taxidermists make the incision down 

 the side of the body under the wing. This has the advantage of 

 preserving the feathers of the breast and abdomen intact, but there 

 is also a risk of making the skin lop-sided. Another method is to 

 cut the bird open along the breast-bone, from just where the fat of 

 the neck appears to the top of the abdomen. This cut must be 



