WORKING TABLE. 57 



ccptacle for offal, for this only makes another article to -be 

 cleaned ; lay down a piece of paper for the refuse, and throw 

 the whole away. A perfectly smooth surface is desirable. I 

 generally have a large pane of window glass on the table be- 

 fore me. It will really be found advantageous to have a scale 

 of inches scratched on the edge of the table ; only a small part 

 of it need be fractionally subdivided ; this replaces the foot- 

 rule and tape-line, just as the tacks of a dry goods counter 

 answer for the yardstick. You will find it worth while to rig 

 some sort of a derrick arrangement, which you can readily 

 devise, on one end of the table, to hitch your hook to, if you 

 hang your birds up to skin them ; they should swing clear of 

 everything. The table should have a large general drawer, 

 with the little drawer for gypsum and arsenic already men- 

 tioned, unless these be kept elsewhere. Stuffing may be kept 

 in a box under the table, and make a nice footstool ; or in a 

 bag slung to the table leg. 



35. QUERY : Have you cleansed the bird's plumage ? Have 

 you plugged the mouth, nostrils and vent ? Have you meas- 

 ured the specimen and noted the color of the eyes, bill and 

 feet, and prepared the labels, and made the entry in the regis- 

 ter? Have you got all your apparatus within arm's length? 

 Then we are ready to proceed. 



