18 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



are often subjected. I have found a fishing basket very suitable for 

 carrying small birds. It is not heavy to handle, and the birds, when 

 once placed therein, are beyond the reach of injury. In this basket, 

 when leaving home, should be placed some sheets of brown paper 

 about the size of letter paper, and a little cotton wadding. When a 

 bird is killed, the shot holes should be plugged with cotton to stop 

 the bleeding, and a pellet of the same material put into the mouth to 

 prevent the juices of the stomach oozing out and soiling the feathers. 

 If the bird is wing-broken or otherwise wounded, it should be killed 

 at once, and the simplest way of doing this is to catch it firmly across 

 the small of the back and press hard with the fingers and thumb 

 under the wings, which will suffocate the bird in a few seconds. The 

 throat and shot holes can then be filled as described. A paper cone 

 of suitable size is made next, the bird dropped into it headforemost, 

 and the outer edges of the paper turned inwards to prevent it slipping 

 out,. and so it is placed in the basket. 



Having reached home, the collector divests himself of his muddy 

 boots, gets a pair of slippers and a change of coat, and sets himself to 

 work to prepare his specimens. In his tool box should be the things 

 he needs and nothing more, for the surplus only causes confusion : 

 a very fine penknife suitable for the smallest birds, and a larger 

 one for larger specimens ; two or three knitting needles of different 

 sizes, a pair of cutting pliers, a few needles and some thread, a paper 

 of pins, a bottle with the preserve, and a bag with some cotton 

 and a small lot of tow. 



The birds being removed from their cones are laid out in order, 

 and the one most desired for a specimen is selected to be first 

 operated upon. The cotton is taken from the mouth and a fresh 

 pellet put in. The wing bones are then broken close to the body 

 with the pliers, and the bird laid on its back on the table with the 

 bill towards the operator. The middle finger, slightly moistened, 

 will separate the feathers from the breast-bone downward, leaving a 

 bare space exposed. About the end of the breast-bone the point of 

 the knife is inserted, back downward, under the skin, and a clean 

 cut of the skin made from this point down to the vent. The skin is 

 then loosened from the body till the thighs are exposed, which are 

 here cut through at the joints. The tail is next separated from the 

 body and the skin turned carefully down, the turn-over being greatly 

 facilitated by the wings being loose, and they can now be separated 

 from the body, and the skin turned back to the base of the bill. 

 This should be done with the finger nails, assisted here and there 



