HOW TO SKIN BIRDS. 107 



with the flesh between the jaws and the brain is to be 

 removed, leaving the sides and top of the skull attached 

 to the bill. The skin above the eyes and ears is closely 

 adherent by membrane to the bone and must be detached 

 with great care. 



In the general process of skinning after the first incis- 

 ion, little if any use of the knife or scalpel is required, except 

 to sever the legs, tail and wings, to work about the eyes 

 and ears, and to remove the base of the skull. The cut- 

 ting may be better done with the scissors than with the 

 knife. The skins of most birds slip off very easily and 

 can usually be detached with the thumb nail. In the 

 cases of Woodpeckers some Ducks and a few other birds, 

 the heads of which are too large in proportion to the 

 caliber of the neck to be skinned as heretofore directed, 

 this part must afterward be separately skinned by an 

 incision made from the outside along the middle line of 

 the skull. This is done after the body has been severed 

 from the skull and the skin returned. 



If the above process has been properly conducted the 

 skin has been turned inside out. The arsenic ma"y now be 

 applied to every part of the skin. Especially the head, 

 wings, legs and tail should be heavily coated with it. The 

 arsenical solution which 1 have recommended elsewhere in 

 this chapter will take the place of arsenical soap in aiding 

 the skin to slip easily over the head. 



Now fill the eye-sockets with pellets of cotton the size 

 of the bird's eye and the skin is ready to be turned right 

 side out. Never bung out " a bird's eyes by putting too 

 much cotton in the sockets or orbits. Be particularly careful 

 about this in Hawks and Eagles, who have deep set eyes, 

 which should be pressed inward rather than distended. 



