HOW TO SKIN A BIRD. 135 



to the skin of the neck, and then turn the skin right side out again, in which process the 

 thread tied to the beak will be found of great assistance ; this is by no means difficult if 

 done carefully. See that the skull is pushed well home and that the skin is not left wrinkled 

 over it : this is done by holding the beak in one hand and with the other gently adjusting 

 the skin and feathers in their right position on the head. 



In ducks, woodpeckers and some few other birds the neck is too small to allow the 

 head to pass through it ; in such cases the neck must be cut off as high as can be reached 

 from the inside, then a slit made from outside down the back of the head and neck through 

 which the skull must be drawn and cleaned as above ; when put back again the slit should 

 be neatly sewn up. 



Any fat or flesh remaining on the skin should be cleaned off, and preservative applied 

 to the whole skin. 



The skin is now completed and it only remains to make it up for the cabinet. 



With forceps introduce a little cotton into the eye-sockets, either up the neck or 

 through the mouth. 



Tie the wing bones together at about the distance apart that they would naturally be, 

 and put a little cotton behind them to fill out the back. 



Take a piece of cotton about the size and shape of the body and neck of the bird and 

 with the forceps push it up the neck well into the skull. Be careful not to stretch the neck 

 and do not use too much cotton. 



Fill out the body and shape the bird naturally, and then with a needle and thread 

 sew up, beginning at the vent and ending at the breast. 



Manipulate the skin a little with a needle to put all the feathers right, pin a band of 

 paper round it to keep the wings in position till dry, attach a label, and the skin is finished. 



Note. — When scraping fat or flesh off a skin, use a blunt knife and scrape from the 

 tail towards the head. 



STORING SKINS. 



When the skin is completed leave it exposed in a cool and above all an airy situation 

 until quite dry. If the weather is warm and there are flies about the skins must be placed 

 under mosquito netting. 



When quite dry, pack in tightly closed boxes with a little camphor or napthaline ; the 

 latter for choice. 



If by accident skins are attacked by moths sprinkle them freely with benzoline and 

 put in an air-tight box, when every moth will be destroyed. 



PRESERVATIVES. 



A preservative in the form of either powder or paste should always be used to dress 

 the skin when possible. Formerly arsenic and corrosive sublimate in various forms were 

 used almost exclusively for this purpose ; but these strong poisons are not only dangerous to 

 handle but skins cured with them are deleterious to health, and of late years sundry non- 

 poisonous compounds have been tried and used with good results. Mr. Montagu Browne in 

 his Practical Taxidermy (a work by the way which every collector should procure) discusses 

 the question very ably ; and from his work I take the following recipes :— 



