24 PREPARATION OF SPECIMENS FOR STUDY. 



as soon as it is secured, should be carefully cleansed 

 and smoothed, have the mouth, vent and shot-holes 

 plugged with cotton, and be thrust head first into a 

 paper cone, to keep the plumage from injury. The 

 ordinary game-bag, or better, a fish-basket, may be 

 used to carry the results of the day's shooting. In col- 

 lecting eggs, great care is of course required to bring 

 them safe home. They should be thickly wrapped 

 with cotton, and deposited in a tin or wooden box. 



Before skinning, each specimen should be measured 

 as to the total length and spread of wings, as these 

 dimensions cannot be accurately taken after the object 

 is prepared for the cabinet. The " length " is the dis- 

 tance in a straight line from the tip of the bill to the 

 end of the tail. The "expanse of wing" is the dis- 

 tance between the ends of the longest primaries when 

 the wings are fully spread apart. A third measure- 

 ment may also be preferably made before the specimen 

 is skinned ; that is, the "length of wing," which means 

 the distance from the " bend of the wing " (from the 

 carpal or wrist joint, sometimes improperly called the 

 shoulder, as said above) to the end of the longest pri- 

 mary. Other measurements, usually taken either from 

 the fresh or the dried specimen, are those of the tail, 

 bill, tarsus, and middle toe, with its claw. The tail is 

 to be measured from the insertion of the feathers in the 

 coccyx to the end of the longest feather. Bills and 

 feet cannot usually be accurately measured without the 

 compasses. The length of the bill is the straight line 

 from the base to the tip of the culmen. The length of 

 the tarsus is the distance from the ankle-joint to the 

 base of the middle toe. Besides measuring, it is al- 

 ways well to note the color of the eyes, bill, feet, any 



