188 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 12 



from W to X [Fig. 4,] ; clean the bone E to W, 

 and cut away what you can of the meat from W 

 to X. It is not uccessar3' to take every particle 

 of meat. I leave the cords, they help to hold the 

 wing firmly when dry. Be sure the poison is 

 well applied at the proper time. Repeat this in 

 like manner with the other wing, F to W and W 

 to X. Many skin the wing from W to the tip 

 beyond X. This can be done by starting the 

 skin by pressing firmly at the point W, side 

 towards the quills. When it starts it can easily 

 be skinned the rest of the way. I do not as a 

 rule do this; it sometimes displaces the wing 

 feathers so that it takes time to make them 

 smooth. In large birds I only clean the bone 

 tu W, and after the bird is all skinned and turned 

 back, I open the wing on the outside under part 

 from W to X, remove meat, poison and sew up 

 the cut. 



The skinning is now completed. Poison by 

 brushing dry preservative over all the parts (flesh 

 side) with the rabbit's foot. For large birds use 

 arsenical soap. Fill the eye cavit}' in the skull 

 with cotton, about as full as when the eye was in. 

 Your skin is now completely inside out. To turn 

 it begin by pressing the skull back, exactly the 

 reverse of skinning it. When in far enough so 

 that the bill can be taken liold of from the out- 

 side, do so and work it firmly and carefully till 

 drawn through. In the same way handle the 

 wings and legs [leg bone being drawn out to 

 poison]. Run your forceps in the eye holes and 

 lift the skin from the skull. Round the eye holes 

 out, smooth the feathers, brush them with your 

 rabbit's foot; sometimes lifting the bird by the 

 bill and shaking gently helps. Lay the bird on 

 its back ; take the two wing bones E and F, and 

 tie them with thread about the same distance 

 apart as they would naturally be. [Fig. 0.] If in 

 skinning you are intemipted before you have 

 time to turn the skin, and it gets dry before yoti 

 resume, wet the inside carefully with water ap- 

 plied with a small brush. Do not u.se too much 

 so as to wet the feathers. This will in a miuute 

 soften the skin. It could not be turned without 

 doing it. When soap is used the skin does not 

 dry as quickly as with the powder. Your skin 

 is now done. 



I will repeat the points in a more condensed 

 form, hojiing to avoid the confusion which fre- 

 quently results from attempting to follow a re- 

 ceipt or rule. 



IN BRIEF. 



Lay bird on back. 



Replace the cotton in throat and beak. 

 Part feathers and cut from breast to vent. 

 Cut leg joints and skin legs. 



Bend tail over back and cut vertebra severing 

 tail from body. 

 Skin body to wings. 

 Cut wings from body. 

 Skin to skull and over it. 

 Draw out ears and cut away from eyes. 

 Skin to bill. 

 Take out eyes. 

 Cut off skull. 



Sever body, drawing tongue with it. 

 Clean out brain. 

 Clean wing bones. 

 Poison skin. 



Fill ej'e sockets with cotton. 

 Turn .skin. 

 Tie wing bones. 



V.^niATIONS. 



Fig. 7. — With hardly an exception, if the bird 

 is iresh the skin can be turned over the skull. 

 There are, however, .some cases where the skull is 

 large and the neck small, such as in Ducks and 

 Woodpeckers. If it is a bad case or the feathers 

 are inclined to start, when you have .skinned to 

 the skull cut off the body at the neck, complete 

 skinning (except head) and poison, tin-n skin. 

 From the outside make a cut in the skin from the 

 top of the head, about between the eyes to just 

 below the skull, O. . . .O, draw out skull through 

 this opening, clean in manner previously de- 

 scribed, put skull back and sew up cut from the 

 outside. Avoid this if possible, as it causes con- 

 siderable extra work to make as smooth as when 

 done in the other waj'. Never do it to a Flicker 

 as tlie head can always be turned. I seldom do 

 it to a Wood Duck. Many assist the process by 

 cutting away part of the skull before skinning it, 

 (skinning till it is exposed); also by crushing the 

 skull. It is however done at the risk of hurting 

 the fcatlicrs. Good perseverance is better. 



TIME UEQIIKED. 



I receive many letters asking how long it 

 should take to skin certain birds. Well, it de- 

 pends on the nature of the workman. All horses 

 cannot trot inside of three minutes. At a rough 

 estimate I should say, under favorable circum- 

 stances : 



Canary, quick, 5 minutes; slow, 10 minutes. 



Flicker, "8 " " 1.5 



Pigeon, "13 " " 20 



Eagle, 1 hour. 



Hawks and Ducks, 20 to 40 minutes. 



I have seen Terns skinned, poisoned and turned 

 ready to stuff, in less than three minutes. 



Om- skin is now ready to stuff or mount. We 

 can do it at once, or if it is not convenient, it may 

 be put away in a damp or sweat box. Your 



