18 MAKING BIRDSKINS 



cut it. 10. When the stump is free from the skin, take hold of it with 

 the right hand and with the fingers of the left gently press the skin from 

 the body, keeping it constantly turned inside out and using an abun- 

 dance of meal. 11. Soon the wing-bones (humeri) will appear. Clip 

 them off at either side close to the body, and resume skinning as before. 

 12. The skin will slip easily over the neck, and you will then meet 

 with an obstruction in the head. 13. Work the skin carefully over the 

 head, using the tips of the first two fingers of either hand, placing the 

 thumbs as a brace farther forward over the eyes.* 14. Pull the ears 

 carefully from their sockets. 15. The eyes will now appear; carefully 

 cut the membrane joining the skin and eyeball, making the incision 

 as far back as possible, in order to avoid cutting the skin, which should 

 be pulled forward until it is entirely free of the eyeball. 16. Remove 

 the eyes with the forceps. 17. With the sharp-pointed scissors make 

 an incision directly across the roof of the mouth, inside the branches of 

 the lower mandible, just back of the skin, and below the eye-sockets. 

 18. With the sharp-pointed scissors make incisions from either end of 

 this cut back along the branches of the lower mandible through the 

 base of the skull on either gide of the neck at its junction with the 

 skull. 19. Connect these cuts by a fourth, which passes through the 

 base of the skull just above the neck, and pull the body and neck from 

 the skull. 20. Scoop out what brains remain with the handle of the 

 scalpel. 21. Pull the end of the wingbone (humerus) inward, skinning 

 the feathers off the bones of the forearm (radius and ulna), and remove 

 the flesh. 22. Do the same thing for the legs, but, after cleaning, do 

 not in either case pull the bones back. 23. Remove as much flesh as 

 possible from the base of the tail, including the oil-gland at the base 

 of the tail above. 24. Hold the skin over the arsenic and alum box, 

 and with a bit of fluffy cotton at the end of a stick, or held in the forceps, 

 dust it thoroughty with the poison, giving an extra allowance to the 

 base of the tail and bones of the skull, wings, and legs. 25. Pull the 

 legs back into place. 26. Place a fluff of cotton on the end of a wire 

 and roll it into a firm, smooth ball, placing one in each eye-socket. 

 27. Coax the skin back over the head, using the first two fingers of 

 each hand and placing the thumbs at the base of the skull. When the 

 tip of the bill appears through the feathers, use the fingers outside, on 

 the feathers, pressing the skin back over the head, and keeping the 

 thumbs in the same position. When the bill is free, take it with the 

 right hand, and use the fingers of the left to urge the skin over the skull, 

 being careful to get it in its former place so that the feathers of the 

 head will lie smoothly. 28. Dress the feathers of the head, particularly 

 those about the eye. 29. Take hold of the tip of the bill and shake 

 the skin gently but vigorously to aid in settling the plumage. 30. Lay 

 the skin on its back, the bill pointing from you, and turn back the 



*In large-headed birds, like Ducks and Woodpeckers, this is impossible, and 

 it is necessary to slit the skin down the back of the neck and push the skull through 

 the opening. 



