THE PIGEON. 



(Columba livia.) 



A. THE SKELETON. 



I. Two skeletons should be examined, one of an adult 

 bird, the other of a nestling two or three weeks 

 old, the latter being especially useful for the skull, 

 sacrum, pelvis, &c., which, owing to the early 

 ankylosis of the bones, cannot be satisfactorily 

 made out in the adult. The adult skeleton is best 

 prepared by maceration, that of the nestling may 

 be either macerated for a short time, or subjected 

 to the action of boiling water for a few seconds : 

 it must be kept in alcohol or glycerine and water, 

 or prepared by the glycerine jelly process. In the 

 adult skeleton the cervical vertebrae ( i) should 

 be separated from one another and strung together 

 in order : the limb bones should be separated on 

 one side, on the other left attached by their liga- 

 ments: the ribs ( 25) are best separated at the 

 junction of their vertebral and sternal portions, 

 the former being left attached to the vertebrae, the 

 latter to the sternum ; a longitudinal vertical sec- 

 tion should be made of the skull with a fine 

 fret-saw. 



