DIRECTIONS FOR SKINNING BIRDS. 25 



naked patches of skin, &c. in fact, the colors of any 

 soft parts liable to fade or change in any way in drying. 

 All these memoranda should be entered in a note-book, 

 and also inscribed on the label of the specimen, to- 

 gether with the date of capture, the sex (ascertained 

 by dissection, as noted beyond), the locality where 

 procured, the collector's name, and any further obser- 

 vations he may have made, such as the contents of the 

 stomach of the specimen, the abundance or scarcity 

 of the species, the occupation of the bird at the mo- 

 ment of its death, &c. 



While proficiency in the higher branches of taxi- 

 dermy is not easily acquired, any one may readily learn 

 to make a fairly good bird-skin, answering all scien- 

 tific purposes. An incision is to be made along the 

 middle line of the abdomen, from the end of the breast- 

 bone to the vent, and the skin carefully raised on each 

 side as far as the legs. These are to be cut away 

 from the body at the knee-joint, inside the skin, and 

 afterward skinned down as far as the tarsus, scraping 

 the flesh from the shin-bone, but leaving that bone in 

 place. Next, skin around the coccyx or tail-bones, sev- 

 ering the tail from the body by cutting off the coccyx 

 inside the skin, taking care to leave flesh enough for 

 the feathers to maintain their insertion. The bird may 

 now be hung, head downward, by a hook inserted in 

 the exposed stump of the rump ; and with a little care 

 the skin may gradually be stripped off as far as the 

 wings. At this stage the wings are to be severed 

 from the body, inside the skin, at the shoulder-joint. 

 At a later stage the wings themselves are to be sepa- 

 rately skinned, like the legs, down as far as the wrist- 

 joint, leaving the bones in, but removing the flesh by 



