Guide to Taxidermy 



49 



Continued practice will allow you to handle any 

 kind of a bird with the loss of comparatively few 

 or no feathers, and with no cuts or tears in the 

 skin. A good taxidermist takes pride in doing a 

 ^'clean job." 



Some birds have very large skulls and small 

 necks, which will not give enough to allow the 

 skull to pass through. These require a special 

 operation, but fortunately such birds are compara- 

 tively few in number. All of the woodpeckers skin 

 "hard" over the head, but they will all go except 

 the Pileated and Ivory-billed. Many members of 

 the duck family cannot be skinned over the head in 

 the usual manner. With such specimens you pro- 

 ceed as previously described until you reach the 

 base of the skull (and then you will readily see 

 that you cannot continue further), at which point 

 jou sever the neck. Turn the head back to its nor- 

 mal position, part the feathers along the back or 

 side of the head and make a lengthwise cut as 

 shown. The edges of the skin can be pushed apart 

 and the skull readily passed through this opening, 

 proceeding the same as though you were working 

 through the neck. We usually prefer opening a 





